An Australian gold mining company has announced plans to install a giant solar and battery storage facility.

Gold Fields has contracted Aggreko to design, build and operate the 8MW solar power system, along with the battery plant at Granny Smith, located in Western Australia’s Goldfields region.

The hybrid system is expected to reduce fuel consumption by between 10% to 13% – the equivalent of removing 2,000 cars off the road.

Stuart Matthews, Gold Fields Executive Vice President Australasia said: “We are thrilled to reach an agreement with Aggreko for the design, installation and operation of this innovative source of renewable energy which will generate nearly enough power to run the mine’s processing operations.

“We expect the renewable power microgrid will be up and running at Granny Smith by Q4 2019 and it will be a welcome addition to our suite of onsite energy solutions across other operations which will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint.”

Construction is scheduled to begin in May.