Richards Bay Minerals’ three power pacts will supply 80% of the power it consumes

This audio is brought to you by Astec Industries, a Global Leader in manufacturing equipment for infrastructure, including asphalt production, construction, and material processing, driving innovation and sustainability. The three power purchase agreements that Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) has signed to date will provide the lion's share of this energy-intensive Rio Tinto group company's current energy needs. RBM, a northern KwaZulu-Natal heavy mineral sands miner and refiner, produces materials used in everyday products that range from paints to smartphones. "When all these power purchase agreements are in place, we'll generate roughly 1.5 terawatt hours, which is about 80% of our annual power consumption," RBM GM growth strategy Bradley Reddy pointed out to Mining Weekly in an exclusive online interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) Electricity consumption comprises around 1.6-million tonnes of CO2e, which represents 80% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. The three projects under way are expected to reduce RBM's annual Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 60% - representing 1.4-million tonnes of CO2e from a 2018 baseline. A total of 500 MW of renewables generation capacity has been secured for RBM, which consumes 1.8 terawatt hours of power a year. All three of the power purchase agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) are under construction. Bolobedu, the 130 MW photovoltaic solar farm with Voltalia, has the capacity to generate around 300 GWh of energy a year. This project, located some 120 km east of Polokwane in Limpopo, is scheduled to come online in the fourth quarter of this year. A year later, the 140 MW wind farm under way with African Clean Energy Developments (ACED), near Swellendam in the Western Cape, is due to come online. Then, in the first half of 2027, the 230 MW power purchase agreement RBM signed with Red Rocket, is expected to come online at Overberg wind farm, in the Western Cape. "The power purchase agreements that we've signed to date are expected to reduce Scope 2 emissions quite significantly. When we look at our entire decarbonisation portfolio, we've got a pipeline of opportunities, and hence we believe that RBM will achieve the group target of 50% decarbonisation reduction by 2030." All major equipment has been delivered to site at Bolobedu and contractors have been mobilised at Overberg, where the concrete batch plant has been established. This plant will supply the concrete for the foundations of the wind turbines, "so we're quite excited about the progress being made", an upbeat Reddy enthused. Additionally, the components for the Khangela Emoyeni wind farm with ACED, near Murraysburg in the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces, have arrived at the Coega port - "and so we're quite pleased with the progress that the IPPs are making", Reddy added. Mining Weekly: Is wheeling living up to expectations given the transmission grid constraints? Reddy: Although South Africa faces several challenges with regards to grid and generation capacity constraints, we believe that the wheeling framework which Eskom has had in place for a number of years, has been a key contributor to successes achieved with the private sector participation in the South Africa's electricity market at this at this point. So, yes, wheeling is living up to expectations. Are energy aggregators providing the opportunity for shorter offtake arrangements? One of the benefits of having an interconnected transgression system and wheeling framework is that it enables aggregators to diversify both on the generation mix as well as customer portfolio and having a diversified portfolio of generation facility and customer base makes it possible to have more flexible offtake arrangements. What energy storage arrangements have been made? From an RBM perspective, we continue to explore energy storage opportunities. Most of our energy projects that I've mentioned have some level of storage authorisation already built in. With ...