Anglo American to develop wind and solar projects in South Africa

Anglo American and Electricite de France SA have agreed to form jointly owned Envusa Energy to develop wind and solar projects in South Africa.

In a first step, Envusa will develop more than 600 megawatts of wind and solar projects in the energy-starved nation, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ultimate plan is the development of an ecosystem that is expected to generate between three and five GW of renewable energy by 2030.

Funding will include debt financing, and construction is expected to begin next year.

Envusa formed after Anglo and EDF signed a memorandum of understanding in March to jointly develop 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts of green generating capacity by 2030.

Envusa Energy is expected to supply Anglo American with a blend of renewable energy generated on Anglo American’s sites and renewable energy transmitted via the national grid.

This energy portfolio approach will aggregate energy from geographically dispersed renewable generating assets and allocate this energy optimally to meet the load demand for Anglo American’s sites.

The mining giant is targeting carbon neutrality in its operations, while the projects will also bolster renewable electricity output in South Africa.

South Africa depends on state-owned Eskom’s coal-fired plants for almost all of its electricity. The government has committed to revive a program to procure power from private producers as outages continue to hobble the economy.