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South Africa’s largest mineral sands producer Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) has teamed up with international energy company Voltalia as well as local black economic empowerment (BEE) partners to build a solar power plant in Limpopo.
According to Rio Tinto majority-owned RBM, the agreement will see Voltalia commencing construction on the Bolobedu Solar PV (photovoltaic) renewable energy project, located 120km from Polokwane, in 2023. The plant is expected to be completed in 2024.
RBM says the plant aims to deliver annual generation capacity of up to 300 gigawatts per hour (GWh). This power will be fed into the national grid to supply its smelting and processing facilities in KwaZulu-Natal via a wheeling agreement in line with the recent amendment to the Electricity Regulation Act the group said.
The agreement will see RBM reducing its carbon footprint, with the miner saying the alternative power supply is expected to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10%, or 237 kilotons per year.
“This agreement is a first step towards reducing RBM’s carbon emissions through the use of renewable solar power, so that we contribute to a net zero future,” says RBM MD Werner Duvenhage.
Voltalia CEO Sébastien Clerc notes: “We are very pleased to support RBM in its decarbonisation journey.”
He says the Bolobedu plant will be its “biggest project in Africa” and that Voltalia has built a series of other solar plants for clients in Zimbabwe, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritania and Egypt.
“This project is the first of our South African large solar-and-wind portfolio under development, in areas with grid connection available, that will be ready to support our clients to overpass the actual energy crisis with affordable, clean and stable electricity.”
Although the cost of the establishing the plant remains undetermined at this point, Voltalia says it is confident that it will secure the necessary funding, especially from local financial institutions that have the lending appetite.
Both partners say the cost of energy from the solar plant will be much cheaper than current Eskom prices.
Social impact
The Bolobedu project is expected to create at least 700 seasonal jobs during the construction phase, with 50 people employed on a permanent basis once the plant becomes operational.
BEE partners will make up 51% ownership of the plant, with at least 10% ownership reserved for black women.
RBM says there is also a skills development aspect for members of surrounding communities.
The need
RBM is the latest company to come out with an alternative energy generation plan this week.
On Tuesday mining giant Anglo American announced that it is teaming up with EDF Renewables to establish a new company called Envusa Energy that will launch a 600MW wind and solar project in its first phase. And on Wednesday Africa’s largest food retailer Shoprite announced plans to extend its solar power generation capacity.
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These moves come as the country approaches the end of its third week of Stage 3 and Stage 4 load shedding; planned outages that leave households and businesses without power for at least four hours a day.
The latest bout of intense load shedding, according to Eskom, is as a result of several generation unit breakdowns at its power stations.
Listen: Werner Duvenhage of Richards Bay Minerals on the solar power partnership with Voltalia
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