Major renewables projects for one of South Africa’s biggest mines

South African renewables company JUWI now has 400MW of renewable energy projects at various stages of development aimed at powering mines in South Africa.

According to the company, an improved regulatory environment has now also allowed an 89MW Castle Wind Project that was originally developed for the government’s REIPPP Programme to now remotely power Sibanye-Stilwater’s mining operations.

Sibanye is one of South Africa’s largest employers and a key stakeholder in the mining industry.

The Castle Wind Project was started in 2011 and has only reached financial close now following extensive delays with the government’s procurement process.

Richard Doyle, the managing director of JUWI SA, said that they are seeing a wave of formal requests for renewable energy projects from South African mines, largely driven by the energy crisis, commercial considerations and decarbonisation targets.

The managing director said that recent amendments to the licence-exemption threshold and the ability to wheel electricity are now allowing pivotal projects to take shape.

Wheeling refers to transporting electricity from a generator to a remotely located end-user through the grid. With most large mines and energy users in South Africa lacking land for large-scale wind and solar projects, the ability to wheel electricity is essential for self-generation, said Doyle.

According to Chris Bellingham, the head of project development at JUWI, “the ability to wheel power through the network combined with the far lower electricity tariffs of solar and wind projects, incentivises mines to either remotely generate their own electricity or purchase it from remote independent power producers (IPPs), thereby sourcing generation from sites where the resource is stronger.

“This is a real win for mines, allowing them to save costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and when used in combination with backup technologies, avoid load shedding.”

Sibanye-Stilwater’s latest March 2023 quarterly trading update revealed that the company is investing heavily in alternative power supply solutions.

Sibanye said: “There are no immediate solutions to improve national energy security in South Africa. We are pursuing self-generation projects that will improve the security of the energy supply. The economic and operating outlook remains challenging and uncertain”

“Eskom’s decreasing energy availability factor is having a major impact on the South African economy and mining industry as the increasing frequency and extent of load shedding and load curtailment measures disrupt operations,” said Sibanye.

JUWI’s rollout of large-scale renewable energy projects continues with 4GW of renewable energy projects in various stages of development across Africa and another 1GW to be initiated in 2023.

JUWI also recently signed an EPC agreement with Pan African Resources to construct an 8.75 MW solar plant for the latter’s Fairview Mine.

Read: Warning for South Africans looking to install solar or inverters to escape load shedding