Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Remote mining operations that have no access to the North American electrical grid and natural gas pipelinesx000D
rely heavily on fossil based power generation. Not only does this reliance increase their operating costs andx000D
subject the mine-sites to fuel supply and price volatility, but it also results a substantial carbon footprint.x000D
Renewable energy systems offer a unique solution, as they reduce reliance on fossil fuels, as well asx000D
significantly lower carbon emissions. The main barriers to greater renewable energy penetration at remotex000D
off-grid mining operations are higher upfront costs and uncertainty over long-term economic and technologicalx000D
viability.x000D
Fireweed Zinc Ltd., a Canadian based mining and exploration company, is conducting a preliminary economicx000D
assessment on one of their properties in the Yukon territory, and is intent on exploring alternative energyx000D
solutions to supply power to their prospective mine-site. The site is in a remote location, without access to thex000D
province's electrical grid, therefore a unique opportunity is presented to explore the use of renewable energyx000D
technologies to partially, or fully, offset fossil based power generation. Experts at the University of Britishx000D
Columbia and Fireweed Zinc Ltd. believe that using a hybrid energy system should sufficiently supply power tox000D
the mine-site, and replace use of the far more polluting diesel generating-sets. Therefore, Fireweed Zinc Ltd.x000D
has asked researchers at the University of British Columbia to help them with conducting the techno-economicx000D
analysis of this hybrid energy system. Fireweed Zinc Ltd. is interested in implementing the result of thisx000D
research project in remote mining operations.x000D
Experts at Fireweed Zinc Ltd. and researchers at the University of British Columbia will work collaborativelyx000D
to improve this novel, yet immature technology with a comprehensive techno-economic feasibility study.x000D
Energy profiles of operating remote mines will be studied in terms of their on-site energy generationx000D
methodology and associated costs, to better perceive and shape the nature of prospective solutions. By