Anglo American is forging ahead with its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2040 through its collaborative venture with EDF Renewables, Envusa Energy. The joint venture has completed project financing for its first three wind and solar projects in South Africa.
The three renewable energy projects, known as the Koruson 2 cluster of projects and located on the border of the Northern and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, will have a total capacity of 520MW of wind and solar electricity generation.
“This marks our first major step towards addressing Anglo American's largest remaining source of Scope 2 emissions – our electricity supply in Southern Africa," says Themba Mkhwanazi, Anglo American's regional director for Africa and Australia.
The projects – the Umsobomvu Wind project (140MW), the Hartebeesthoek Wind project (140MW), and the Mooi Plaats Solar project (240MW) – form part of Envusa Energy's mature pipeline of wind and solar projects in South Africa. The renewable energy ecosystem that Envusa Energy plans to develop is expected to supply a mix of renewable energy, generated both on Anglo American's sites in the Southern African region and from other sites from which renewable energy will be transmitted via the national grid.
“The Koruson 2 wind and solar projects benefit from outstanding yield resources, coupled with a robust Eskom grid connection. This configuration promises considerable electricity cost savings compared to existing tariffs,” Mkhwanazi says.
Anglo American's three businesses in South Africa (Anglo American Platinum, Kumba Iron Ore, and De Beers) have committed to 20-year offtake agreements with Envusa Energy. These agreements will see Anglo American Platinum receiving 461MW of supply, Kolomela mine 11MW, and Venetia mine 48MW. All projects are to reach commercial operation during 2026. This inaugural phase of contracts is expected to abate approximately 2,2 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide.
The financial close of this initial cluster of projects is the first step towards Envusa Energy's ambition to roll out 3 to 5 GW of wind, solar and storage projects by 2030, says Tristan de Drouas, ceo of EDF Renewables in South Africa. “This strategy is ambitiously focused on doubling our net renewable installed energy capacity globally, including hydropower, from 28 GW in 2015 to 60 GW by 2030.”
Sustainable supply chain
The company announced delivery of the last of its 10-strong chartered fleet of Capesize+ Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) dual-fuelled bulk carriers, the Ubuntu Liberty, this week. The ship’s maiden voyage from China to Saldanha Bay, South Africa to collect a cargo of iron ore marks the delivery of all 10 ships built over the last three years.
The LNG dual-fuelled vessels offer an estimated 35% reduction in emissions compared to ships fuelled by conventional marine oil fuel.
