Paper presented at the

First UMaT International Mining and

Mineral Conference
Solomon Nunoo
Department of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering
University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa
 Introduction

 Background of Mining Sector of Ghana

 The Need for Energy Management
 Energy Management Principles
 Case Study
 Conclusions
 Introduction

 Background of Mining Sector of Ghana

 The Need for Energy Management
 Energy Management Principles
 Case Study
 Conclusions
 Ghana is located in Western Africa, has land
coverage of 238,500 km2 with approximately 23.4
million people (2008 estimate) and about 54 % of
the population live in rural areas (2005 estimate)
(Owusu-Ansah, 2008).

 The economy of Ghana mainly depends on mining,

agricultural production, industrial and small business
activities which largely depend on electrical energy.

 Electrical power generation, transmission and

distribution are mainly carried out by Volta River
Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo),
the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and
Northern Electricity Department (NED) of VRA
respectively.
Figure 1 Installed Electricity Generation Capacity of Ghana
Figure 2 Electricity Generating Capacity of Ghana Based on the
Fuel Used
 Although, electrical energy is a limited
commodity, consumers can enhance its usage by
applying energy management (EM) strategies.

 Definition: EM is a set of activities, which aim to

reduce or shift electricity use to improve system
reliability and manage electricity costs (Bjorke,
1986).

 The aim of this research is to analyze the potential

areas for electrical EM in the mining sector, and
highlight it as a challenge to the utility industry as
well as to the end user.
 Introduction

 Background of Mining Sector of

Ghana
 The Need for Energy Management
 Energy Management Principles
 Case Study
 Conclusions
 Minerals
mined in Ghana include gold,
manganese, diamond, bauxite, and
limestone.
 Amongthe mining industries, gold mining
companies dominate.
 Thefour major gold mining companies in
Ghana, who account for over 90 % of
national gold output (Hassan, 2008), are
Goldfields Ghana Limited, AngloGold
Ashanti, Newmont Gold Ghana Limited,
and Golden Star Resources.
 Mining
is closely associated with large
energy (fuel and electricity) use.
 Accordingto Accenture (2003), energy
accounts for up to 35 percent of
operating budgets in the mining and
metals industries.
 Hassan (2008) also estimates that 7
percent of electricity production in Ghana
goes to the mining companies of which
gold mining companies require in excess
of 120 MW.
 Introduction

 Background of Mining Sector of Ghana

 The Need for Energy Management
 Energy Management Principles
 Case Study
 Conclusions
 Energy management is the key to saving
electrical energy in an organization.
 Much of the importance of energy saving stems
from the global restrictions on power
production, transmission and distribution.
 This global need affects energy prices,
emissions targets, and legislation, all of which
lead to several compelling reasons why
organizations need to save energy.
 Energy management is the means to controlling
and reducing an organization’s energy
consumption.
 Introduction

 Background of Mining Sector of Ghana

 The Need for Energy Management
 Energy Management Principles
 Case Study
 Conclusions
 The essence of EM is to enhance quality of power
while simultaneously reducing energy waste.
 An EM plan should consider energy usage in all its
forms, its impact on the environment, and
importantly, the costs associated with its use.
 EM is a logical, planned method of ensuring
economic use of energy through a variety of
initiatives, without affecting productivity and
causing inconvenience to staff.
 A comprehensive EM plan should provide clear
strategies that will allow any organization to reduce
energy consumption through the formulation of an
action plan and effective supervision.
Figure 3 Flowchart for setting up and monitoring an EM policy
 Introduction

 Background of Mining Sector of Ghana

 The Need for Energy Management
 Energy Management Principles
 Case Study
 Conclusions
 Generally,the concept of energy
conservation and management in industries
in Ghana is still at the developmental stage.
 Case Study: AngloGold Ashanti, Iduapriem
Mine.
 Thecompany has an organised energy data
on electricity usage.
 The
average total energy consumed by the
mine from January 2007 to January 2009 is
7407.348 MWh.
 Month GAG Site Teberebie Site Overland Site Total Energy Consumed
(MWh) (MWh) (MWh) (MWh)

Jan-07 4975.5 522.9 199.0 5697.4

Feb-07 4152.7 522.9 169.6 4845.2
Mar-07 5169.4 539.4 81.7 5790.5
Apr-07 5748.3 489.8 169.5 6407.6
May-07 7001.2 490.2 179.2 7670.6
Jun-07 7183.7 535.8 83.9 7803.4
Jul-07 7706.2 555.9 94.7 8356.8
Aug-07 7809.0 489.0 96.8 8394.8
Sep-07 6795.7 406.2 80.0 7281.9
Oct-07 5692.7 405.9 72.6 6171.2
Nov-07 6697.0 490.8 90.3 7278.1
Dec-07 7349.6 395.1 96.2 7840.9
Jan-08 7610.7 468.3 98.4 8177.4
Feb-08 6773.0 441.0 90.2 7304.2
Mar-08 7649.6 470.0 97.7 8217.3
Apr-08 7464.7 442.9 90.7 7998.3
May-08 7789.7 508.8 121.7 8420.2
Jun-08 7190.7 441.8 104.7 7737.2
Jul-08 7462.7 478.8 125.0 8066.5
Aug-08 7678.4 493.8 110.0 8282.2
Sep-08 7032.4 376.0 123.7 7532.1
Oct-08 7721.2 534.3 131.3 8386.8
Nov-08 7363.2 519.6 137.2 8020.0
Dec-08 6575.7 506.1 123.7 7205.5
Jan-09 5663.6 514.0 120.0 6297.6
 Themost dominant electrical load in
mining industries is inductive.

 Correct
sizing of electrical appliances
presents another avenue to reduce
energy used.
 In the case of the Iduapriem mine, the ten pumps used
in the sumps are always in operation.
 It has been established that most of these pumps
remain in operation even when there is no water in the
sumps, which are characterised by high levels of
energy wastage.
 The motors running these ten pumps are all oversized.
 The use of level switches to detect the level of water in
the sump to determine when to switch the motor on/off
will help to save energy.
 Themain plant is composed of inherently
energy consuming loads (thus poor power
factor).

 Motorsthat are more efficient can replace old

motors.

 Alsoefficiency of any motor can be improved

through better controls and maintenance.
 The major uses of electrical energy in buildings are for
lighting, cooling, and power delivery to office appliances.
 Lighting is the most obvious source of energy wastage.
 More sport lights should be used in the work shop.
 Use of natural illumination should be enhanced.
 Finally, cooling systems must be used judiciously to
enhance EM.
 Institutions can plant shading trees around office
buildings to give natural cooling effect and thus help in
this regard.
 Introduction

 Background of Mining Sector of Ghana

 The Need for Energy Management
 Energy Management Principles
 Case Study
 Conclusions
 This paper presented a general overview of EM
and its implementation in the mining industries of
Ghana.

 Energy accounts for 35 percent of the operating

budget in mining industries and seven percent of
the electricity produced in Ghana goes to the
mining industries, of which gold mining companies
require in excess of 120 MW.

 The global need to save energy will help reduce

damage to the environment due to pollutants
emitted from the thermal plants.
 There is a great potential for energy conservation
in the mining industries because the most
dominant electrical loads are inductive and
oversized motors account for the most losses.

 Notable places for energy conservation in the

mining industries include the sump, main plant
and office complex and plant workshops.

 Implementing EM measures will increase the

initial installation cost but there will be immense
savings in the end.