According to the latest figures from state copper commission Cochilco, total electricity consumption by copper mines in Chile is expected to grow 6.7% annually to reach 39.4 TWH in 2020 compared to roughly 23 TWH in 2012.
Growth on the northern power grid which provides electricity to the majority of Chile's mines will be faster at 7.0% per year and reach 25.7 TWH in 2020. On the central grid consumption by copper miners will increase 6.3% annually to 13.7 TWH.
Mr Andrés Mac Lean executive VP of Cochilco highlighted the growing portion of electricity that will be dedicated to desalination and pumping of water up to the mines. In 2012 this item was just 3% of electricity use, but in 2020 it will be the second largest representing 5.7 TWH or 14% of total consumption.
The figures showed that however, concentration will continue to represent by far the largest chunk of power consumption at 56%, while SX-EW processing will represent 12% of Chilean copper producers' combined electricity needs. Cochilco's previous forecast, published in December 2011 estimated combined electricity demand of 34.4 TWH among copper miners in 2020.
According to Cochilco's figures, the Chilean copper industry's electricity demand is rising in part because of its vast project pipeline that is worth USD 80 billion and set to lift output from 5.26 MT in 2012 to 8.4 MT in 2020. Existing projects will see output decline to 4.5 million ronne per annum while projects currently under construction and in feasibility or prefeasibility stages will add 3.9 million tonne per annum.
However, power consumption per tonne of copper produced is also on the rise as Chile's deposits in general age, meaning average grades decline, ore gets harder, deposits get bigger and deeper and water must come from further away. Electricity use per tonne of fine copper produced in 2011 was some 3.8 GWH versus 2.8G WH in 2001.
Mr Mac Lean said that copper mining in Chile will require total generation capacity of 5.7GW by 2020 or 2.0 GW on the SIC and 3.7GW on the SING. This represents an overall increase of 2.9 GW made up of 900MW on the SIC and 2.0GW on the SING. Between 1998 and 2011, the SING grew generation capacity by nearly 2.5GW and in that sense the increase of 2.0GW required in 2012 to 2020 should not be unthinkable. There are generation projects in the pipeline which, if they are realized, can supply electricity to the copper mining industry.
While today Chile's energy matrix has readjusted itself following the tight period of the mid 2000s when natural gas supply from Argentina was cut off, costs are still a major concern for miners. During that time, miners were forced to turn to diesel, right when diesel saw major global price increases, sending miners' energy costs soaring.
Mr Mac Lean said that "There is a forecast that moves around USD 80 per MWH. That should be the cost in the future. Really the issue is that we, the mining sector had a very specific thing happen which was the gas issue.”
Source - Business News Americas
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