ALROSA said in a release yesterday that its Nyurba Mining and Processing Division has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of expensive oil fuel and water as a result of the integration of solar energy collectors into the heating system of Nyurba base camp.

The company presented some of the environmental and economic benefits of its solar power project, set up three years ago with an investment of 4.5 million rubles to install 150 solar panels (300 sq.m).

It said that the solar energy collectors provide heating to Nyurba’s base camp in summer days instead of the oil-fired boiler. Since its installation, the complex reduced oil consumption by 85 tonnes and greenhouse gas emissions by 271 tonnes of СО2-equivalent. The system uses a closed water cycle and does not generate any waste, it added.

This region where ALROSA’s main operations are concentrated in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in Far Eastern Russia, has long winters and short summers, but is relatively sunny. For cities of Yakutia, the average annual amount of sunshine lies in the range of 1,700-2,000 hours.

“Solar power use in Yakutia is underdeveloped despite high costs for oil which needs to be transported from offsite. It is due to significant initial investments and a lack of experience on the regional level. ALROSA decided to implement solar energy collectors into a heating system of Nyurba base camp after a successful small-scale pilot project started in 2013. A payoff period for the current project estimated to be 5 years. Solar panels provide us with a clean and environmentally friendly energy,” said Polina Anisimova, ALROSA’s Chief Ecologist.