Energy efficiency and reactive power optimization for open-pit mining operations
How a leading coal producer used CENTO to cut energy losses, stabilize voltage, and implement a digital power management strategy across its mining sites
A global leader in the production and export of high-grade anthracite faced increasing energy demands as mining output expanded. The operation’s power consumption is highly mobile, with electric excavators accounting for up to 80% of total usage. Continuous operation of these excavators is critical to maintaining production flow, placing heavy stress on the site’s electrical infrastructure.
Business challenges
The mining enterprise struggled with voltage drops that caused drives to operate below nominal performance. Network losses reached up to 15%, and a high level of reactive energy further reduced overall system efficiency. These issues led to unstable power quality, potential downtime risks, and increased operational costs.
Solution
By implementing CENTO as part of a “digital power management” concept, the company built a unified monitoring and control system for electricity and technical water accounting. Through data-driven analysis and equipment pairing, the enterprise achieved:
- Reactive power compensation: combining excavators with both capacitive and inductive loads, supported by accurate annual data to size compensators correctly
- Reduced transmission losses: from 2 MW down to 500–600 kW
- Voltage stability: elimination of spikes and sags that previously reached 1 kV and affected the entire site’s power grid
- Balanced power distribution: correction of transformer tap misalignments that caused 100 A overloads across sections
- Water efficiency: improved metering and control reduced discharge-related costs to local rivers by more than 60%
Results and next steps
By integrating energy accounting, analytics, and optimization within one digital environment, the mining company created a stable, transparent, and efficient foundation for sustainable energy use across its operations.