Switzerland's meeco Group, through local joint venture oursun Pacific Ltd., is designing, engineering and installing the 11 MW, hybrid solar PV-diesel microgrid for Canada's Lion One Metals Ltd., owner-operator of the Tuvatu Gold Project on Viti Levu, the largest of the Fijian islands.

Built on 4.1 hectares (10.1 acres) of unused land 3.5 kilometers away from the mine, the system is being designed to power mining operations 24 hours per day. The capacity of the ground-mounted solar PV system is set to be 7 MWp. Diesel generation will bring that up to 11 MWp total, according to a press release. Sun2safe XXL, meeco’s intelligent energy management system is to manage and optimize power production and energy supply.

Producing a projected 10.31 GWh per year of electrical energy, the hybrid generation-distribution system will displace more than 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the companies say.

Lion One Metals is to become a 50-percent partner in the power system's special-purpose vehicle (SPV) through a buy-in structure that's already been agreed on.