Agrimin Limited has inked an agreement with Danish company Aalborg CSP that will see the development of a solar thermal heating system for Agrimin’s Sulphate of Potash Project in Western Australia.
Sulphate of potash (potassium sulfate – K2SO4), also known as arcanite, is a white crystalline salt that is predominantly used as a fertiliser. As it is chloride-free, it’s highly valued for some chloride-sensitive fruit and vegetable crops.
Estimated global potash consumption during 2015 was 67 million tonnes. Demand for sulphate of potash is expected to continue to increase, driven by the pressing need to feed growing populations from less available arable land; requiring increasing yields.
Agrimin’s project is situated on Lake Mackay in Western Australia, which is the largest undeveloped arcanite-bearing salt lake in the world. The project, spanning 2,560 square kilometers, has Indicated Mineral Resources of 4.3 million tonnes and Inferred Mineral Resources of 18.9 million tonnes of sulphate of potash.
A scoping study carried out last year concluded 70% of the project’s overall energy requirements were connected to heating water for the process plant. Originally, gas-fired water heaters were considered, but the company also looked into solar thermal energy.
“The investigation of renewable energy options has been a key focus since the completion of our Scoping Study last year,” said Mark Savich, CEO of Agrimin.
” Agrimin’s water heating needs are well suited to the use of solar thermal energy and the Company should benefit in the long-term from a low dependency on fossil fuels.”
The remaining 30% of the project’s estimated energy requirements involve 8MW of electricity generation capacity to power the process plant and site infrastructure. The company says renewable and non-renewable options are still under consideration for this aspect.
Aalborg CSP has delivered more than 1,000MWth (megawatts thermal) of solar installations globally, including the world’s first integrated CSP energy system installed at Sundrop Farms near Port Augusta in South Australia.
Aalborg’s scoping study was based on proven commercial technologies already operating in the district heating industry in Northern Europe. An example includes a 1.9MWth solar district heating plant in Denmark.
