Harvest Minerals connects Arapua project to Brazilian power grid

Fertiliser producer Harvest Minerals announced on Wednesday that the Brazilian energy company CEMIG had connected its Arapua multi-nutrient, direct application, natural fertiliser project to the country’s main electricity grid.

The AIM-traded firm said that last May, it received all the required permits to connect the project to the power grid, and that as part of the plant expansion last year it installed a 600 KW power substation and two transformers to supply the plant, as well as the office and other onsite facilities.

In early January, that infrastructure was connected to the grid by CEMIG, before being tested and approved by the CEMIG technicians on 18 February.

Receiving power from the national grid also represented a potential cost saving to the company, having previously relied on higher-cost diesel power.

The current installed capacity exceeds the maximum current demand by 15%, with Harvest saying it could easily be upgraded to 2,500 kW.

“The plant upgrade and expansion we installed last year is working well and by switching from diesel to grid power we will be able to continue to control costs and maintain our position as one of the lowest cost producers in the world,” said executive chairman Brian McMaster.