The world’s biggest platinum miners are ramping up plans to build renewable energy plants to free them from power outages that have plagued South Africa for more than a decade and to reduce their carbon footprint.
Sibanye Stillwater — the number one platinum miner — Impala Platinum Holdings and Anglo American Platinum said they plan to scale up solar and wind farms for their own use to cut reliance on state-owned utility Eskom, some of whose aging coal-fired plants have failed to keep up with electricity demand.
South Africa has been dogged by power outages since 2005 and rolling blackouts are a big problem for the world’s deepest mines, which are often forced to reduce some operations when power is rationed.
By using more renewables, the miners may also ease pressure from investors wary of carbon-intensive industries as the shift from fossil fuels accelerates. Sibanye has approved plans to build a 50-megawatt solar plant to provide power to its gold mines.
It’s also assessing plans for a 175-megawatt facility at its Rustenburg platinum mines and for additional supplies to come from a 250-megawatt wind farm, Wellsted said. The company will outline construction timelines at its half-year results next month.
Anglo Platinum aims to start generating from the end of 2023 about 100 megawatts of renewable power at Mogalakwena. — Bloomberg.
, or about a quarter of the daytime electricity demand of the world’s biggest palladium mine, said Jana Marais, a spokeswoman for the miner.
