Good news for Cennergi Holdings. The subsidiary of South African mining company Exxaro Resources has completed the financing of its Lephalale solar power plant, a year after the Lephalale solar project was approved by South Africa’s National Energy Regulator (NERSA). Cennergi has refrained from revealing its financial partners.
The project involves the installation of a 68 MW solar farm on a 236 hectare site in the Waterberg district, owned by Exxaro and adjacent to its Grootegeluk mining complex in Limpopo province. The coal mine, which employs more than 2,000 people, is operated by Exxaro Coal. Cennergi will sell the electricity generated to this subsidiary of Exxaro Resources under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
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“The project will be built under a fully integrated engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. The operation and maintenance (O&M) of the solar power plant will be entrusted to a highly experienced operator,” says Cennergi, which plans to commission its power plant within 19 months. Exxaro sees this project as part of its decarbonisation drive, even though the group is one of the leaders in the fossil fuel sector in South Africa, thanks to its coal production.
The group, headed by Nombasa Tsengwa, believes that the Lephalale solar power plant will help reduce electricity bills at its mining complex, and therefore coal operating costs. The installation will also secure the electricity supply to the Grootegeluk mining complex. More importantly, the solar power plant will reduce dependence on the state-owned company Eskom, in a local context marked by load shedding.
Jean Marie Takouleu