Achieving Sustainable Development Goals Through Hybrid Energy Supply Systems in Mining: The Case of the Varvarinskoye Copper–Gold Deposit

Many companies in the mining industry include decarbonization of production among their key strategic goals as part of their internal sustainability strategy. This need is driven by a number of factors: stricter regulation in the area of carbon footprint (introduction of carbon taxes, emissions quotas, reporting requirements); sustained growth in demand for electricity and rising market prices; economic feasibility—the need to optimize operating costs and improve energy efficiency. This study provides a comprehensive technical and economic justification for implementing a hybrid power supply system—combining a solar power plant (SPP) and a gas engine power plant (GPP)—at Solidcore Resources’ Varvarinsky hub in Kazakhstan. The methodology includes modeling the energy balance of the real asset (156.9 GWh of annual energy consumption), calculating the output of a 22.6 MW SPP based on local GHI/PR/η parameters, forming and determining the adaptability coefficient Kₐ (proportion of PV in total monthly electricity generation), conducting an economic assessment (NPV, payback period, sensitivity), and inventorying CO2 emissions under Scope 1–2. The SPP provides approximately 41.3 GWh of electricity generation per year, with an average annual Ka = 0.263; the 40 MW installed capacity of the gas piston power plant covers the residual demand, forming a stable daily and seasonal balance. The project demonstrates a positive NPV (After Tax) = USD 23.65 million with an estimated payback period of 10 years, while the cost of energy in extraction and processing is reduced by almost three times, and the total reduction in CO2 emissions will be 51%. Thus, hybridization of energy supply systems is a practical compromise between reliability and decarbonization. Determining the adaptability coefficient Ka allows the flexibility of the system to be taken into account, shows how effectively the new energy system uses renewable energy sources, and can be used to optimize the operation of the energy system to achieve the company’s internal sustainable development goals.