Sandvik is set to commence a pilot project to deploy a second-life battery energy storage system at select Glencore operations.
The system, also known as BESS, is expected to support mine services including lighting and light electric vehicle charging at the Glencore assets, which will be determined at a later date.
During the pilot project, Sandvik will study additional use cases such as power shifting, peak shaving and arbitrage.
To deploy the BESS system to the Glencore operations, Sandvik will partner with ECO STOR, a second-life BESS provider based in Oslo, Norway.
ECO STOR will employ its BESS expertise to develop the technology with modules recovered from Sandvik battery electric vehicles that have gotten the most out of their mobile mining applications.
The BESS will be built as an 20-foot container holding 128 modules, and its nominal energy is expected to be around one megawatt hour.
“The modularity of our battery packs provides a strong foundation to build energy storage systems from second-life modules and create a valuable use for ‘used’ batteries,” Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions vice president, batteries and chargers Ville Laine said.
“Modules can be easily replaced when they reach the end of their second life. Ensuring the batteries that power our mining equipment are used to their full potential before being recycled improves circularity and substantially reduces our carbon footprint.”
Sandvik aims to deploy the BESS container prototype at a Glencore operation in 2025, and to launch a commercialised version of the solution in 2026.
Glencore decarbonisation copper assets manager Alvaro Baeza welcomed the collaboration with Sandvik.
“Circularity and recycling are at the core of our business model and we look forward to working with Sandvik on this project that is well aligned with both transition challenges and our business focus,” Baeza said.
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