As part of a partnership with Électricité de France (EDF), the South African mining company Anglo American will ensure its energy transition by investing in the development of 460 MW of solar and wind energy from 2024.
More news on Envusa Energy, the joint venture between Électricité de France (EDF) and mining group Anglo American. Its subsidiary Anglo American Platinum, the world’s largest platinum producer, has signed a power purchase agreement with Envusa to supply 460 MW of renewable energy to Rustenburg Platinum Mines (RPM), a mining company wholly owned by Anglo American Platinum.
In detail, Envusa will develop its Koruson 2 wind and solar projects in the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape provinces. The agreement covers the construction of the 240 MW Mooi Plaats solar power plant, as well as the Hartebeesthoek and Umsobomvu wind farms, with a combined capacity of 280 MW. According to Anglo American, work on these power stations will start in 2024, with commercial operation scheduled for 2026. All these power stations will be connected to the grid of the state-owned company Eskom.
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Envusa will then act as an energy trader, supplying electricity to RPM for 20 years. “The generation of electricity from these wind and solar projects will enhance the resilience of Eskom’s national electricity supply and reduce our electricity costs,” said Craig Miller, chief executive officer of Anglo American Platinum.
These initiatives are part of the group’s sustainability strategy, which aims to reduce emissions from its platinum mining and processing operations by 30% by 2030 and “achieve carbon neutral operations by 2040”. As part of this strategy, the company, which recorded sales of 30 billion dollars in 2023, also wants to decarbonise its fleet of mining trucks. In 2022, Anglo American inaugurated its first hydrogen-powered truck at the Mogalakwena platinum mine in Limpopo, South Africa.
Jean Marie Takouleu
