Juwi AG, a German renewable energy developer, started operations at what it said is the world’s largest off-grid solar plant located at a gold and copper mine in Australia.

Juwi’s Australian unit built the 10.6-MW solar park at the DeGrussa mine about 560 miles (901 kilometers) north of Perth for Sandfire Resources NL, said Woerrstadt-based Juwi Wednesday on its website. The park’s 34,000 solar modules are spread over 49 acres and linked to a 6-MW battery storage system. Together they’ll supply daytime power for Degrussa.

A 19-MW diesel plant can take over the mine’s power supply when the solar panels aren’t producing, Juwi said. The solar plant will reduce DeGrussa’s carbon dioxide emissions by 12,000 tons annually and cut diesel consumption by 1.3 million gallons or 20 percent.

The project was financed by the Clean Energy Corporation, Neoen SAS and with a A$21 million ($15.7 million) grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

Renewableenergyworld.com