42 CIM Magazine V ol 15 No 3 Mark et challeng es ar e the primary barriers t o the full decar boniz ation of power at mine sit es ac cor ding t o ICMM s Martine z with man y miners commit t ed t o long t erm f o s sil fuel power agr eement s signed bef or e r enew ables became competitive A t r emot e mines developing an onsit e clean ener gy power plant back ed by ener gy st or ag e is mor e f easible than inking a clean ener gy deal with a utility or r enew ables developer A t Glen cor e s Raglan nick el mine in northern Quebec six meg aw at t s of wind ener gy with thr ee meg aw at t s of ener gy st or ag e displac es some f our million litr es of diesel annually T he f our turbine 9 2 meg aw at t wind f arm at Rio Tint o s Dia vik mine has been in oper ation sinc e 2012 T he most ambitious onsit e r enewables pr ojects however ar e happening out side of h y dr oelectricity rich Canada in r emot e locations wher e diesel is expensiv e supply chains pr ecarious and electricity grids str ained Rio Tint o is in vesting US98 mil lion C AD 1 40 million on a bat t ery back ed 34 meg aw at t solar arr ay t o power it s K oodaideri ir on or e mine in W est ern Austr alia which will satisfy 65 per c ent of the mine s power needs Cana dian miner B2Gold is building a 30 meg aw at t solar plant at it s F e k ola g old oper ation in Mali see pag e 36 powerful enough t o sa ve 13 1 million litr es of hea v y fuel oil a y ear As the clean ener gy industry matur es new f inancing models ar e making onsit e r enew ables deployment les s oner ous In Mali Resolut e Mining has enlist ed British r enew ables and micr ogrid developer Ag gr ek o t o build a h ybrid power plant at it s S y ama g old oper ation that includes 20 meg aw at t s of solar and a 10 meg aw at t st or ag e s y st em Ag gr ek o sells the power t o Resolut e thr ough an e xt endable 15y ear power deal Resolut e s CEO J ohn W e lborn described it as a c ompelling off er f or an oper ation with decades of pot en tial bey ond it s off icial 15y ear lif e Ag gr ek o r emains the owner oper at or and f inancier of the power pr oject and capit al expenditur es r emain off Resolut e s balanc e sheet It s a long t erm off t a k e agr eement with a signif icant capit al demand that s met by Ag gr ek o T h at s something that c e rt ainly as a miner is new W elborn said It s the perf ect f it f or the solution we r e looking f o r T he plant will cut ener gy cost s fr om the cur r ent US0 23 0 28 per k W h t o US0 15 per k W h and r educ e car bon emis sions by 20 per c ent T he ener gy tr ansition off ers Resolut e an opportunity t o bol st er it s r elationship with nearby communities T he miner has signed a separ at e agr eement with Ag gr ek o t o explor e w a ys t o pr ovide electrical power t o locals Inst ead of trying t o ac c e s s power infr astructur e that is either not ther e or g oing t o strug gle t o be f inanc ed we ar e actually r eversing that by bringing f inancing oper ating and development of power infr astructur e that can cr eat e micr ogrids in and ar ound the mine sit e W elborn said T he downstr eam impact s on health on education and on quality of lif e will actually come fr om the electrif ication of emer ging economies T h at s pot entially a mor e immediat e benef it than the en vir onment al one The challenges of scope 3 While ther e is lit tle debat e over miners r esponsibility t o cut down oper ational and electricity emis sions downstr eam emis sions or scope 3 emis sions ar e mor e cont entious In Mar ch Rio Tint o chairman Simon T hompson r eject ed pr oposals t o set scope 3 emis sions t a r g et s claiming that they ar e primarily the emis sions of our cust omers mainly st eelmak ers in China over which we ha ve very limit ed contr ol Others cont end that the inclusion of scope 3 emis sions is imper ative and their omis sion r enders mining companies 2050 net z e r o t a r g et s meaningles s Decarbonizing on the sit e level is within miners contr ol and they ve made that commitment but in the gr and scheme of thing s it won t chang e the world When it comes t o emis sions the is sue is in the smelting st ag e explained W ood Mack enzie s K e t tle Andr ew Gr ant head of oil and g as at f inancial think t ank Car bon Tr ack er said that the omis sion of scope 3 emis sions has an impact on how r elev ant the t a r g et s ar e Breakdown of scope emissions SCOPE 1 DIRECT GHG EMISSIONS Direct GHG emissions occur from sources that are owned or controlled by the company for example emissions from combustion in owned or controlled boilers furnaces vehicles and other sources as well as emissions from chemical production in owned or controlled process equipment Direct CO2 emissions from the combustion of biomass shall not be included in scope 1 but reported separately GHG emissions not covered by the Kyoto Protocol eg CFCs NOx etc shall not be included in scope 1 but may be reported separately SCOPE 2 ELECTRICITY INDIRECT GHG EMISSIONS Scope 2 accounts for GHG emissions from the generation of purchased electricity consumed by the company Purchased electricity is defined as electricity that is purchased or otherwise brought into the organizational boundary of the company Scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility where electricity is generated SCOPE 3 OTHER INDIRECT GHG EMISSIONS Scope 3 is an optional reporting category that allows for the treatment of all other indirect emissions Scope 3 emissions are a consequence of the activities of the company but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the company Some examples of scope 3 activities are extraction and production of purchased materials transportation of purchased fuels and use of sold products and services Source W orld Resources Institute and W orld Business Council for Sustainable Development Greenhouse Gas Protocol A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard Revised Edition