One of the largest hurdles miners face is limited access to interconnected power grids, commonly found in remote areas such as West Texas where none exists. Seeking a solution to this problem, many mining companies are turning to mobile natural gas power generation. The use of natural gas power equipment provides significant benefits allowing mining companies to get online quicker and reduce lead time from the feasibility stage to production in remote mining locations where utility power sources are unavailable. In the Permian, one regional frac sand provider built two new mines but faced a challenge bringing both online when the build would be ready long before utilities would be available in the area. The sand producer met with a third-party provider of mobile power generation and was provided with a project specific engineered plan, operations management, technical expertise and 24/7 remote monitoring. Using natural gas generators, 14 MW of power was deployed at each site, utilizing compressed natural gas (CNG) for two weeks until pipeline gas infrastructure was available. Electrical distribution equipment and dedicated, certified technicians were also provided to both sites. The natural gas system provided cleaner emissions and reduced power costs by 40% compared to diesel. And 24/7 remote monitoring ensured the frac sand operator had full visibility and status reporting on the power system, plus maximized uptime.

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