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Indicative · 08:22 UTC · Prices by MetalCharts
Energy Transition

Renewable Energy To Cost Mining Industry Up To

Global edition
Renewable Energy To Cost Mining Industry Up To

Due to Eskom’s chronic instability, mining firms in South Africa are investing up to $2.7 billion to create 2 GW of renewable energy to complement the company’s energy needs. The venture would help them become self-sufficient in power production.

On September 23, the mining sector announced its intentions to build renewable energy plants due to the South African government’s decision to allow the building of plants with a capacity of up to 100 MW without the need for government licenses earlier this year. Minerals Council of South Africa CEO Roger Baxter spoke of the power’s contribution to the sector’s decarbonization. R30-R40 billion ($2 billion-$2.7 billion) is the most likely price range.

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Eskom’s Profile: Because of this, the trend in energy availability factor has been declining over time. As a result of taking units down for outages that might last up to 100 days at a period to make up for maintenance backlogs, there was an increased danger of load shedding. Because scheduled maintenance is subtracted from the energy availability component, it has been much more depressed than expected by extrapolating the long-term trend.

When presenting the findings, it was highlighted that 60% of the country’s $302 billion economies is the mining sector. This industry is highly dependent on coal-based power generation, accounting for 82% of the country’s energy output. South Africa dominates the rankings as the continent’s biggest economy and a global top-12 greenhouse gas emitter. The decarbonized mining sector fulfills South Africa’s decarbonization strategy under its NDC reduction goals of reducing carbon dioxide annually by 2030.

About the author

Mo Shine

Mo Shine

Lead Strategist, African Infrastructure & Diplomacy

Mo Shine covers the geopolitics, logistics and diplomacy of critical-mineral extraction in the Global South, with a focus on how African statecraft shapes what investors and operators can actually build. He spent more than a decade in newspaper journalism, as sub-editor and executive editor, and has worked with Skillings since 2009.

His current work tracks the Lobito Corridor and other Western-backed rail routes, and what they change for working capital, regional diplomacy and operator resilience across the Central African Copperbelt.


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