H2OME

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What a 15 kW hydrogen system can do at a mine camp

Outback mine and exploration camps burn diesel day and night for accommodation, kitchens and offices. This page is plain about scale: one 15 kW system is a small piece of a camp's power picture.

Camps are bigger than one unit

A full accommodation camp with dozens of air-conditioned rooms, a commercial kitchen, a laundry and a wet mess draws far more than 15 kW, especially in summer heat. It would be dishonest to suggest one system replaces the camp's generators. Any whole-camp role would need a larger, multi-unit setup sized in the pilot, and the mine's own engineers would rightly want to see it proven first.

What it would keep running

  • Communications hut and satellite link
  • First aid room fridge and lights
  • Security gatehouse
  • Exploration camp dongas
  • Site office computers

Where it does fit

Smaller pieces of a camp suit 15 kW well: an exploration camp of a few dongas, the first aid room, a communications hut, the security gatehouse or a remote office block. These are loads where silence and no refuelling help, and where an instant UPS switch-over protects radios, satellite links and computers from the brief drop when a camp generator changes over.

A comms hut that never blinks is worth a lot when it carries the site's emergency radio and the link back to the city office. That is the kind of task a single system is sized for, and a sensible place for a mine to trial it without betting the whole camp on something new.

How it works →
The H2OME loop: an electrolyser splits water into hydrogen, the hydrogen is stored in a tank for weeks, a fuel cell turns it into electricity for your home, and the water returns to the loop.

Charging is the hard part

A camp off the grid would need to charge from a wind turbine, since the system's charging sources are off-peak grid power, wind or micro-hydro. Round trip efficiency is 30% or less, so a turbine has to produce a lot more than the camp draws. Hydrogen stored at 30 bar or less keeps for weeks, which helps bridge calm spells, but the wind resource decides whether it makes sense.

Questions

Can it replace the camp's diesel generators?

Not for a full accommodation camp. The total load is usually many times 15 kW. One system suits a comms hut, first aid room or small exploration camp. A whole-camp role would need a larger, multi-unit setup assessed in the pilot, and it may simply not be a fit.

What would it charge from out bush?

Off the grid, a wind turbine is the realistic option. The site needs a strong, reliable wind resource to cover the round trip losses of 30% or less. Without that, the system cannot keep itself topped up, and we would say so before anyone installed one.

How does it handle dust and heat?

The system would sit in a sealed, shaded and ventilated enclosure with filtered air. Its performance in sustained desert heat and dust is something pilot sites would test. We will not claim results for those conditions before they have been measured.

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