Power Profile -- Mining (Polyus, Russia)

Headquartered in London, Polyus Gold is one of the world’s largest gold producers. The company operates gold mines in five major regions in Russia – the Krasnoyarsk Territory; the Irkutsk, Magadan and Amur regions; and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Additional mining operations are located in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Romania and Kyrgyzstan.

Because the delivery of diesel fuel to the operations in the northern and western regions of Russia is expensive, Polyus uses crude oil, the local energy resource, in place of diesel fuel to power its operations. Polyus’ power generation needs were twofold: they needed enough power to mine gold, and they needed to provide heat for the surrounding residential settlements and facilities.

At the end of 2008, a crude oil-powered combined heat and power (CHP) plant was commissioned by Polyus in the village of Eruda in the North Yeniseisk region of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The 17.2 MW CHP plant, run by four Cat® 3616 generator sets rated at 4.3 MW, is the first power plant in Russia to run on crude oil. The Cat generator sets being used there were specifically designed to operate on crude oil, and in turn provide Polyus with high output and reliability at a low operating cost.