South Africa’s first utility-scale renewable energy captive power project is coming. Unfortunately, the power won’t be going to the people, but rather a direct line to Tronox SA who has the right to use the power under a long-term power purchase agreement.
Absa has said it’s acting as a joint mandated lead arranger and lender for the entirety of the project. An estimated R4.1 billion has gone into the construction of the project, which has its home in the North-West.
Solar powering the mining industry
Developing the project is Sola Group of South Africa; providing power in 100MW segments, for a total of 200MW of solar energy. Tronox is spreading the 200MW of power between its five facilities across the Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. The goal is for Tronox to reduce its overall carbon footprint. By the end of the project, it will potentially see a 13% overall decrease.
Tronox is a provider of heavy mineral sands. It mines sand deposits, in order to produce titanium slag – which it can then sell.
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Tronox isn’t only reducing its carbon footprint with this deal. It’s saving a significant amount of money too. Based on the competitive energy tariff it’s receiving through the project and considering the company’s business model requires a lot of energy, the deal will help Tronox save on energy costs.
Absa has said the deal adds to its own renewable energy portfolio, which now stands at over 3.1GWs. This is including Eskom’s energy program, in which Absa plays a big part.
Source: BusinessTech