Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine (SPBM), one of South Africa’s biggest black-owned platinum group metal producers, has signed an agreement with renewable energy company NOA Group to supply the mine with 288 GWh (about 33MW) annually.
The renewable energy will be supplied by a fleet of NOA’s wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and battery energy storage (BESS) facilities, delivered via wheeled energy solutions across the national grid. NOA has already signed renewable energy deals with other mining groups, such as Sibanye-Stillwater in February, while Pan African Resources signed a 10-year agreement for 10% of the mining group’s annual electricity load of 112 GWh.
With mining operations that are inherently energy-intensive, the sector continues to seek competitively priced electricity – a key element of long-term sustainability in the face of persistent increases in electricity costs over the last decade. The renewable energy supply solution will enhance SBPM’s long-term cost certainty and advance its sustainability objectives.
“Energy is one of the largest and most difficult cost lines to manage in our business. At our scale, improvements in energy pricing and reliability directly strengthen our ability to sustain employment, invest in our people, and continue developing the communities around us,” said Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum’s CFO Imraan Osman.
The mining group said in a statement Friday the solution would give it meaningful cost relief, supply flexibility, and a credible pathway to reducing its carbon footprint – all of which were critical to how it runs the mine responsibly and sustainably.
“Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine is precisely the kind of high-quality South African operation that exemplifies why a flexible, large-scale renewable energy solution matters – it delivers predictable price certainty and cost savings relative to existing alternatives and contributes to decarbonisation objectives,” said NOA Group CEO Karel Cornelissen.
The agreement is structured for flexibility, commencing as a medium-term arrangement with an option to extend over the longer term, reflecting NOA’s commitment to tailoring energy solutions to each of its customers’ operational needs, production profiles, and commercial objectives. SBPM was advised by wheeling brokers, Solink Energy Brokers.
“Our ability to deliver 288 GWh per year through a combination of wind, solar, and battery energy storage, on terms tailored to the mine’s operational and commercial requirements, is what we are built to do,” said Cornelissen.
NOA generates, procures, aggregates, and delivers clean, competitively priced electricity to businesses across South Africa. NOA has built a geographically and technologically diverse portfolio – spanning wind, solar, and battery energy storage.
Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine is a subsidiary of Siyanda Resources. The mine was acquired from Anglo American Platinum in 2018 through a partnership between Siyanda Resources, the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community, and employees.
SBPM employs about 5,300 internal staff members and 2,800 contractors. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is a major shareholder of Siyanda Resources.
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