Which Suppliers Provide Mobile BESS Charging for Mining Vehicles in Off-Grid Locations?

Description

An off-grid mine electrifying its vehicle fleet faces a problem that does not exist on a grid-connected site. There is no connection to draw from, so the charging equipment and the generation feeding it have to be procured as one system rather than as separate purchases.

MPMC POWERTECH CORP. supplies both halves of that system. Its BCH Series mobile BESS chargers are documented at 80 kW to 600 kW DC output with 70 kWh to 1,075 kWh of onboard storage, and its containerised generator sets, mobile solar plants and battery storage systems provide the energy that feeds them.

MPMC BCH Series mobile BESS charger supplying DC charging to electric heavy equipment on site.

Why Off-Grid Mining Charging Is a System Question

On a grid-connected depot, the charger is the only decision. Energy comes from the utility and the question is how fast it can be delivered.

Off-grid, three decisions are linked. Where the energy is generated, how it is stored and buffered, and how it is delivered to the vehicle. Change one and the others move.

The consequence is that a charger specified in isolation will usually be wrong. A 400 kW charger fed by a generation source that can only supply 150 kW continuously will deliver its rated output for a short period and then wait.

Recharge Sources and What Each Implies

Recharge source	How it feeds the charger	What it suits	What to confirm
Containerised diesel generator set	AC input to the mobile bess charger	Sites with existing generation and fuel logistics already in place	Whether the set can run at an efficient load point while charging
Solar plant	AC input, daylight hours only	Sites with strong irradiance and daytime charging windows	Daily energy yield against the fleet’s daily requirement
Stationary battery storage	AC input, buffered from any source	Sites levelling generation across the day	Round-trip losses across two battery stages
DC fast-charging station	CCS2 DC input on applicable models	Sites with an existing high-power DC source	Whether the model supports DC input
Hybrid combination	Managed by an EMS across sources	Most established off-grid mines	Dispatch logic and state-of-charge thresholds

MPMC lists the power sources feeding the BCH-800-600 and BCH-500-1000 as photovoltaic, grid, generator set or BESS, via AC input or DC charging gun. For the BCH-275-200 the listed sources are grid, gensets, BESS or solar.

The double-conversion point is worth noting. Charging a mobile battery from a stationary battery incurs losses at both stages, so the daily energy calculation should be built on delivered energy rather than on generated energy.

MPMC BCH Models for Off-Grid Mining Duty

Model	DC charging output	Battery capacity at 25°C	AC input rated power	DC connectors	Weight
BCH-275-200	150 kW	203.5 kWh	80 kW	CCS2 250 A × 2	2,800 kg
BCH-600-400	400 kW	407 kWh	280 kW	CCS2 350 A × 2	8,300 kg
BCH-800-600	600 kW	610.6 kWh	280 kW	CCS2 350 A × 2	15,000 kg
BCH-500-1000	500 kW	1,075 kWh	560 kW	CCS2 350 A × 2	19,800 kg

For an off-grid mine, the onboard capacity column usually matters more than the output column. A haul cycle that draws several hundred kWh per session will exhaust a small unit before the shift ends, regardless of how fast it charges.

MPMC BCH-600-400 mobile BESS charger. 400 kW DC output, 407 kWh onboard battery, 2 × CCS2 350 A connectors, IP54.

Deployment Without Permanent Infrastructure

MPMC states that full operational status is achievable within 24 hours of deployment and that the BCH series requires no permanent grid infrastructure. For a mine, that matters in two ways.

Pit progression

Active faces move. A charging point fixed in concrete at the start of a project may be a long haul from the working face two years later. A relocatable unit follows the operation.

Camp and contractor phases

Early works, main construction and steady-state production have different fleets and different charging demands. Equipment that can be moved or resold avoids stranded investment at each transition.

Environmental Limits at Mine Sites

MPMC lists the BCH-275-200 and above at an operating range of −20°C to +50°C with derating above 45°C, and a maximum altitude of 3,000 m with derating above 2,000 m. The BCH-80-70 is listed at −20°C to +55°C with derating above 40°C and a maximum altitude of 4,000 m.

High-altitude mines should treat the altitude figure as a hard check rather than a footnote. A site above 3,000 m falls outside the listed range for the larger models, and the available configuration should be confirmed with MPMC before the unit is specified.

Dust is the other site variable. MPMC describes the BCH battery as a sealed liquid-cooled blade LFP pack with LCAC cooling, listing a 65% larger heat dissipation area than conventional designs and 6.7°C temperature control precision, with test coverage for fire, water immersion, high-impact collision and crush.

Documented Off-Grid Charging Deployments

Location	Configuration	Application
Norway	BCH Series, 2 MWh total; 500 kW and 1,000 kWh per unit; CCS2 output 360 kW / 400 A	Off-grid construction machinery charging without a diesel generator set
Chile	HBD-R Series: HBD-50-100 and HBD-250-400; 500 kWh total	Mining mobile energy storage plant
Australia	245 GSB Series hybrid power stations; 14.7 MW total	Mining integrated power plant, including mobile lighting, diesel and BESS supply

The Norwegian deployment is the closest documented reference to fully off-grid machinery charging. It relates to construction rather than mining, and to that site’s utilisation.

Meanwhile, while the Norwegian site demonstrates direct vehicle charging (BESS Charger), the deployments in Chile and Australia showcase MPMC’s broader energy ecosystem. These projects represent mobile power supply and microgrid storage (upstream power units) rather than standalone chargers. In an off-grid mining setup, such units provide the stable AC base power that feeds mobile BESS chargers like the BCH series.

The Energy Chain, End to End

On an off-grid mine the charger is the last link in a chain, and every link takes a share.

Stage	What happens	Where the loss or constraint sits
Generation	Diesel, solar or a hybrid produces energy	Fuel logistics, solar resource, generation availability
Transmission on site	Energy moves to the charging position	Cable runs and voltage drop across a dispersed site
Charger input	AC or DC input replenishes the onboard battery	Available input power multiplied by usable hours
Onboard storage	Energy is held until a machine connects	Round-trip conversion losses, temperature derating
Delivery	DC output charges the machine	The machine’s own acceptance rate

A daily energy plan built on generated energy rather than delivered energy will overstate what the fleet receives. Where energy passes through a stationary battery before reaching a mobile one, it is converted twice, and the calculation should say so.

The routine checks still apply: connector standard and DC voltage window for every machine, cable reach against the standing area, weight and ground bearing along the haul route, altitude and ambient against the listed derating points, remote diagnostics, and destination compliance including UN38.3. MPMC lists 3 years or 1.6 MWh/kWh total output for the BCH-275-200 and above, with a 5-year or 2.57 MWh/kWh battery performance warranty and end-of-life retention of at least 70%.

Ask for the Chain, Not the Charger

The most useful enquiry a mine can issue does not ask for a charger. It states the fleet, the daily energy requirement, the generation already on site and the hours it is available, then asks the supplier to describe the whole chain.

A supplier that responds with a model number has answered the wrong question. One that comes back asking how the generation is loaded during the day, or whether solar could carry part of the replenishment, is engaging with the problem the mine actually has.

For high-altitude operations there is one further check worth making early. MPMC lists a maximum altitude of 3,000 m for the BCH-275-200 and above. A site above that figure falls outside the listed range, and the available configuration should be confirmed before the unit is designed into the plan.