Electricity and Control December 2022

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT : PROJECTS, PRODUCTS + SERVICES

RBM to secure solar power through Voltalia partnership

Through a recently announced partnership agreement involving Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), international energy company Voltalia, and local Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partners, RBM will be supplied with solar power by Voltalia for its operations in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. In terms of the agreement, Voltalia will begin construction of the Bolobedu solar PV renewable energy project in 2023, at a site about 120 km east of Polokwane in Limpopo. The power plant is scheduled to be complete by 2024 and will deliver an annual generation capacity of up to 300 GWh. It will feed into the national power grid to supply RBM’s smelting and processing facilities through a wheeling agreement, in line with the recent amendments to the Electricity Regulation Act. With the shift to supply of renewable solar power, RBM expects to cut its annual greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10%, or 237 kt per year. On announcing the agreement, RBM Managing Director, Werner Duvenhage said: “This marks a first step for RBM towards reducing our carbon emissions through the use of renewable solar power, so that we contribute to a net zero future. We look forward to working with Voltalia as it develops this solar power plant and delivers significant benefits for the surrounding communities.” Voltalia CEO Sébastien Clerc said: “We are pleased to support RBM in its decarbonisation journey. The Bolobedu photovoltaic power plant will be our biggest project to date in Africa. We have built a number of other solar plants, for Voltalia or for clients, elsewhere on the continent – 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. Engineers from renewables company Scatec have start ed work on the Kenhardt solar project in the Northern Cape, which forms part of South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). Scatec reached financial close on the devel opment of the Kenhardt project earlier this year and, thus far, it is the only approved project within the RMIPPPP to have reached this point. Once operational the project will have a total solar capacity of 540 MW and battery storage capacity of 225 MW/1 140 MWh. It will provide 150 MW of dispatch able power under a 20-year power purchase agreement and is due to begin supplying power within 15 months of the start of construction. The facility will comprise three colocated projects and will be stretch over a distance of some 10 km. Jan Fourie, Executive Vice President for Scatec in sub-Saharan Africa says, “We were particularly careful

With this portfolio, we will be ready to support our clients to move beyond the energy crisis with affordable, clean and stable electricity.” Voltalia will ensure the Bolobedu solar PV pro ject creates local employment opportunities for the surrounding communities. A workforce of more than 700 people is expected during construction, and a workforce of around 50 people once the plant becomes operational. The project will also provide skills development opportunities for members of the surrounding communities, and a bursary programme for young local learners. In support of South Africa’s growing renewable energy sector value chain, Voltalia will work to source goods and services locally. The Bolobedu solar PV power plant will be 51% black owned through BEE partners (to be confirmed in due course), with a minimum 10% stake going to black wom en, and the host community will also participate. Richards Bay Minerals is a world leader in heavy min eral sands extraction and refining and is South Africa’s largest mineral sands producer. RBM mines the miner al rich sands of the northern KwaZulu-Natal province and produces predominantly ilmenite, rutile and zircon – materials used in diverse goods from paint and smart phones to sunscreen and toothpaste. RBM is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (74%) and Blue Horizon – a consortium of investors and the mine’s four host commu nities (kwaMbonambi, kwaSokhulu, kwaMkhwanazi and kwaDube) – which owns 24%. The remaining shares are held in an employees’ trust.

Werner Duvenhage, Managing Director, RBM.

For more information visit: www.riotinto.com/en/oper ations/south-africa/richards-bay-minerals#

Protecting the environment in SA’s first RMIPPPP project

when we began to lay out the facility on the site. Learning from a rigorous Environmental Impact Assessment process, we realised that there is rich biodiversity in the region, and every precaution is being taken to minimise the environmental impact of the project.

The Kenhardt project will have a total solar capacity of 540 MW and battery storage capacity of 225 MW/1 140 MWh.

“We have adopted the approach of avoidance, or re location, and only if that is not possible, destruction.” This means the company will do everything possible to avoid – and so protect – any sensitive local fauna and flora and safeguard local ecosystems. The Kenhardt region is rich in plant biodiversity. The 99 species of flora and 16 species of fauna that are of ‘conservation concern’ raise a particular responsibility Continued on page 16

DECEMBER 2022 Electricity + Control

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