Page 11 - AfrElec Week 12 2023

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

South African Exxaro Resources to build

68MW solar park

SOUTH AFRRICA EXXARO Resources, a South African energy challenge in our energy strategy, and a challenge
and metals mining company, expects to achieve for others in the country as well.”
financial close by end of March on the building Rising demand and its reliance on aged
of a solar power project north of the country. coal-burning plants have constrained the coun-
According to local industry publication Min- try’s energy security since 2007. As a result,
ing Weekly, the Lephalale solar project will cost power utility Eskom runs a tight load manage-
about $84mn and produce 68MW. ment schedule that leaves many parts of the
Exxaro chief executive Nombasa Tsengwa country without power for up to 12 hours daily.
made the disclosure while presenting the coal, In response, an increasing number of businesses
renewable energy and ferrous group’s 2022 full- are building off-grid alternatives, mostly solar
year financials on March 16. Construction by and wind. Rising demand
Exxaro’s renewables unit, Cennergi Holdings, “There are around 9 GW of renewable energy
and a partner, is planned to begin in Q2 2023. projects under development in South Africa, of and its reliance
“We have been building a pipeline of oppor- which the mining sector accounts for 6.5 GW,”
tunities including the Lephalale solar project, Tsengwa said. on aged coal-
which our board has already approved,” Tsengwa “Closing the electricity gap requires con-
said. certed efforts from citizens at large but also more burning plants
Johannesburg-listed Exxaro has a partner- from the likes of our business to make meaning- have constrained
ship with independent energy company Ener- ful investments.”
trag with an aim to also develop wind and solar Infrastructure challenges compelled Exxaro the country’s
solutions for the mining industry in the eastern to truck some of its coal to ports last year, at extra
Mpumalanga region, with the first preferred site cost. energy security
already permitted. The partnership has a poten- On Thursday, Exxaro reported 78% growth
tial pipeline of 700MW. “We are now focusing in earnings in 2022 driven by its coal segment. since 2007.
our attention on commercial and technical Annual profit jumped 28% despite operational
workstreams,” Tsengwa said. challenges hampering rail and ports utility
“Furthermore, we are in discussions with Transnet’s capacity to transport coal to export
various parties to acquire near-permitted sites to ports and markets.
further boost our entry into the energy market. While coal export volumes declined by 32%
The potential pipeline ranges from 370 MW to in annual terms, the company earned an average
975 MW. We are quite mindful of South Africa’s price of $251 per tonne of the product in 2022,
electricity grid constraints, which really remain a up from $96 in 2021, Reuters reports.™

Week 12 22•March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P11