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Developing Successful Hybrid Solutions for an Off-Grid Site
Nyrstar El Toqui
Tom Olsen
General Manager
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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui
Location
It is located in the Aysén region, 120 kilometers North of Coyhaique, the
capital of the region and at 700 m above sea level and surrounded by
the communities of Villa Mañihuales, Alto Mañihuales and El Gato.
History
In 1971 Mr. Froilán Villegas, senior explorer, discovered two Zn veins,
the Antolín & Zúñiga veins.
After an exploration campaign carried out during 1974 by
Metallgesellschaft AG and supported by local investors, 1.28m tonnes of
reserves with 9% Zn were identified.
The construction of a 180K tonnes per year (450 tpd) process plant
began in1980.
The equipment for a 2.2 Mw hydro plant, and for the process plant
began to arrive in early 1982.
Mine operations began in November, 1983.
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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui
Current Operation
El Toqui is an underground, polymetallic mine, producing lead and zinc
concentrates containing gold and silver.
El Toqui Personnel 405 (89% are from the Aysén region)
Contractors 228 (concentrate haulage, catering services)
Mill throughput: 1,800 tpd - 631,000 tpy (Pb & Zn).
Zn contained in concentrate 42 kt in 2015 plan.
Pb contained in concentrate 1.8 kt
Au contained in concentrate 8,900 ounces
Ag contained in concentrate 117,000 ounces
84% Chile’s Zn production is produced from El Toqui according to
statistics provided by the Chilean INE.
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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui
Current Power Generation Units
2 units 3512 Caterpillar diesel gensets 1.2 MW each
3 units 3516 Caterpillar diesel gensets 1.6 MW each
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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui
Current Power Generation Units
2 units Francis turbines from Spain 1.1 MW each
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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui
Current Power Generation Units
6 units Vergnet Eolien from France 0.23 MW each
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Sociedad Contractual Minera El Toqui
Current Power Generation Units
2 units 3512 Caterpillar diesel gensets 1.2 MW each
3 units 3516 Caterpillar diesel gensets 1.6 MW each
2 units Francis turbines from Spain 1.1 MW each
6 units Vergnet Eolien from France 0.23 MW each
Total installed capacity 10.8 MW
The El Toqui power system is isolated from the regional grid system.
Maximum power demand of the El Toqui system has been up to 6.3 MW
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2014 Full Year - Power Generation Data
Diesel 22.96 GWh @ $5.8M $254.5/MWh 54.3%
Hydraulic 15.86 GWh @ $337K $ 21.3/MWh 37.6%
Wind Farm 3.4 GWh @ $ 74K $ 21.6/MWh 8.1%
Total 42.24 GWh @ $6.3M 100% power generation
2014 Average cost per MWh $148.1/MWh
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49%
40%
27%
35%
45%
49% 48% 48%
53% 50%
52% 54%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
0
500
1.000
1.500
2.000
2.500
3.000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
% MWh
2014 Power Generation - Diesel vs Green
Diesel Hydro Wind Green %
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4,7
3,9
1,0
3,4
8,0
8,8
7,0
9,4
7,0
7,7
8,7
6,1
0
2
4
6
8
10
0
500
1.000
1.500
2.000
2.500
3.000
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
m3/sec MWh
2014 Power Generation – Average River Flow
Diesel Hydro Wind River Flow - m3/sec
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26 27 28 27 29 29
35 38
40 42
45%
62%
55% 57% 55%
60%
45%
51% 48%
46%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
% GWh
Last 10 Years Total Power Generation (GWh) & Green Energy (%)
Total Power Generation GWh Green Power %
Mill #6 & Paste Plant
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45%
62%
55% 57% 55%
60%
45%
51%
48% 46%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
0
5
10
15
20
25
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
% GWh
Last 10 Years Power Generation - Diesel vs Green
Diesel Power GWh Green Power GWh Green Power %
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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
$/MWh
Average Cost per MWh per Generation Unit
Diesel Hydro Wind Average
Diesel
Total Average
Wind Farm
Hydraulic
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0,59
0,80
0,51
0,66
0,91 0,90 0,91 0,87
0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
$ $/MWh
Total Average Cost - $/MWh & Average Cost per Liter of Diesel
$/liter Average
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Hydro Power Plant - Key success factors
a. El Toqui has water rights of 7.5 m3/sec from the El Toqui River.
b. River flow capacity to operate both hydro-turbines for 8 months in the
year is available and based on climatic conditions.
c. High availabilities since commissioning, producing 15,000 MWh/year,
annual average.
d. Normal wear of parts, components, etc., require complete rebuild of
each turbine every 10 years.
e. Low maintenance cost of hydro power turbines.
f. Actual cost to install a third turbine (1.9 MW) = $1.7M per MW
installed.
g. The expansion of the hydro power plant will increase the average
green annual power generation from 45% to 65% beginning in 2016.
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Hydro Power Plant - Challenges
a. Long period of time to obtain additional water rights
b. Long period of time to obtain corporate approval to carry out the
expansion project. (3 years)
c. Weather conditions in the Aysén region during construction.
d. Meeting construction deadlines due to distances and isolation of the
site.
e. Limited amount of qualified personnel from the region to perform
construction works.
f. Manufacturing time of main equipment for the new generation unit.
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Wind Farm Characteristics
Manufacturer Vergnet Eolien from France
06 Units Model MP-250
Capacity 250 KW 400V 3 Phase
Type of generator Asynchronous Generator
2 Speed Operation 31 rpm / 47 rpm
# of Blades 2 blades per unit
Height 55 meters high
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Wind Farm Characteristics
Total Original length between blades 32 meters
Actual total length of blades 28 meters
Main drive weight 9 tonnes
Type of structure hinged with winch & auxiliary support
Wind speed for full generation capacity 12 meters/sec
Low speed operational range 5-8 meters/sec @ 31 rpm
High speed operational range 8-22 meters/sec @ 47 rpm
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Wind Farm - Key success factors
a. Small amount of time to execute the project plan from beginning to
commissioning and closure (8 months).
b. The site is located with company property, 3 km power generation control
room.
c. A crane was not required during installation and it is not required to carry
out maintenance works.
d. El Toqui personnel are trained to maintain and repair the units.
e. The official registration and authorization to operate took only 2 months.
f. Maintenance includes mainly minor parts and components.
g. Purchasing of special tools, spare parts and components during the
execution of the project, have been key to maintain the wind farm.
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Wind Farm - Challenges
a. High cost to operate the diesel gensets drove the decision to invest in
wind power. Additional water rights to Rio Toqui had not yet been
obtained.
e. As a result of wind gusts, it was necessary to lower the range of
operation from 25 m/sec to 20 m/sec.
d. The control system for the blades is not as fast as the wind gusts
variations existing in the area. This has provoked most of the issues
reported per each one of the six units.
b. Original 32m blades were not the adequate for the zone due to prevalent
wind gusts. It was necessary to replace them with reinforced 28m
blades.
c. Original hydraulic accumulators and shock absorbers also had to be
replaced with reinforced units due to wind gusts.
f. Wind range above 20 m/sec. is not common. This wind velocity never
lasts more than 8 hours.
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Details on operations, maintenance and monitoring of this hybrid system.
El Toqui’s experience with the wind farm has resulted in not operating
the wind farm when temperatures fall below 0°C. Cold temperatures
cause hydraulic problems and ice accumulates on the blades.
The wind farm has a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
monitoring system in place through optic fiber. Based on the
manufacture´s recommendation, the preventive maintenance per unit is
performed every 6 months of operation.
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Details on operations, maintenance and monitoring of this hybrid system.
The hydro power plant requires operators to run due to its age. SCADA
system is planned to be implemented in the near future.
Solid maintenance practices in condition monitoring program which
include:
• Vibration monitoring
• Temperature monitoring
• Lubricant analysis
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What are the expectations in terms of fuel cost-savings and additional benefits from renewables integration?
1. The estimated diesel savings on a normal hydrological year of operation
from the hydraulic plant will be 6.5M liters/year.
2. Additional 1.2M liters/year of diesel savings are expected to be gained
from the wind farm.
3. The reduction on hours of operation per each diesel generation unit will
reduce their maintenance cost per year. Longer intervals between top
overhauls and complete overhauls will be extended – further reducing
costs.
4. Also, 2.8M liters/year of diesel savings could be obtained if additional
water rights were obtained. Additional water rights would lead to the
installation of another hydro turbine.