Page 14 - AfrElec Week 41 2021

AfrElec NEWS IN BRIEF AfrElec

ZERO EMISSIONS Glasgow at the end of October. FINANCE
“I think the mining industry will be at the
Eskom will need to leading edge of decarbonisation,” Gold Fields’s Nigerian budget: Finance,
CEO Chris Griffith recently told DM168 in an
clean up its act after big interview. power projects get lion’s
Such a remark may raise eyebrows in some
miners commit to net zero quarters, but Gold Fields has built one of the shares of NGN1.16tn loans
world’s largest renewable energy microgrids
emissions target to help power its Granny Smith gold mine in The Minister of Finance, Budget and National
Planning, Zaynab Ahmed, had on Friday
Australia. It is also building a 40MW solar
The 28 member companies of the power plant for its South Deep operation west said from the NGN16.39tn budget that the
International Council on Mining and Metals of Johannesburg, after much regulatory delay. President, Major General Muhammadu
(ICMM) made a collective commitment last Big ICMM members, such as Brazil’s Vale Buhari (retd.), presented to the National
week to meet a target of zero Scope 1 and and Anglo American, have been exiting from Assembly on Thursday, NGN10.13tn was
2 emissions by 2050. The commitment was coal, partly in response to shareholder and projected to be generated as revenue and
made in an open letter signed by the 28 chief public pressure. NGN6.26tn which is 3.39% of Gross Domestic
executives. The fact of the matter is that mining Product as deficit would be financed majorly
This is a big deal – ICMM members remains a crucial industry in the 21st century. by borrowing.
account for about a third of the global mining Every appliance in your home and your “To fund the deficit, NGN2.51tn would
and metals industry – and the move has workplace would not exist without it. So it come from domestic sources, another
game-changing implications for South Africa is vital that the sector reduces its significant NGN2.51tn from foreign borrowing,
and the fossil-fuel dinosaur called Eskom, carbon footprint and fast. NGN1.16tn from multi- and bi-lateral
which still lumbers around the wreckage of For South Africa and Eskom, the writing loan drawdowns and NGN90.7bn from
our economic landscape. is on the wall. Other ICMM members with privatisation proceeds,” the minister had said.
“As the suppliers of the minerals and South African operations include African According to a document titled ‘2022
metals that are critical to decarbonisation and Rainbow Minerals, Glencore and Sibanye- budget proposal: Schedule for multilateral/
sustainable development, we have a particular Stillwater. bilateral project-tied loans’ the ministry will
responsibility to minimise the impact of our Meeting this commitment will mean that get NGN269.86bn worth of projects from
operations on the environment,” ICMM CEO none of the power they purchase by 2050 can the NGN1.16tn loans, making it the biggest
Rohitesh Dhawan said in a statement. “We are be derived from coal, which remains by far beneficiary.
speaking with one voice … so that we drive Eskom’s biggest source of energy. In the case A total of 42 projects are tied to the loans
emissions reduction at a significant scale.” of Glencore, it will mean giving some more out of which the ministry will execute six.
Scope 1 emissions refer to those owned serious thought to its remaining coal assets. The six projects are the Fiscal Governance
or controlled by a company, and Scope 2 are And the smoke signals from the and Institutions Project (NGN15.57bn);
indirect emissions from the generation of Department of Mineral Resources and Energy States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability
purchased power. Scope 3 covers all indirect (DMRE) on climate issues have lacked a sense and Sustainability Programme for Results
emissions in a company’s value chain. of urgency, to put it politely. The DMRE still (N4.1bn); Development Bank of Nigeria
The ICMM commitment is in line with seems to see a bright future for coal, which is (NGN20.51bn); COVID-19 Action Recovery
ambitions set out in the Paris climate accords out of whack with the prevailing zeitgeist. and Economic Stimulus Programme (NCares)
to curb the greenhouse gas emissions linked (NGN143.55bn); Power Sector Recovery
to climate change and comes ahead of the Project (N82.03bn); and the Family Homes
next big UN climate conference that starts in Funds Housing Project (NGN4.1bn).
The Ministry of Power is second on the list
with NGN220.54bn worth of projects.
One of projects is that which seeks to
interconnect Nigeria-Niger-Benin-Togo-
Burkina Faso with power.
The project which will gulp N3.6bn
is tagged 330KV DC North Core
interconnection of Nigeria/Niger-Benin/
Togo-Burkina Faso.
Others are the Zungeru hydro-electric
power project (N43.07bn); construction
of 132/33KV substation, solar mini grid
electrification and solar street lightning
project in Kaduna State (N4.1bn);
construction of
2X26 MW gas-based power plant and
associated gas supply facility in Calabar,
Cross River State (N2.46bn) and the Nigeria
Electricity Transmission and Access Project
(N68.58bn).

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