JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The 10 MW Elikhulu solar renewable power plant developed at Evander’s gold operations became the first integrated project larger than 1 MW to receive full Eskom grid code compliance.
This was announced over the weekend by JUWI Renewable Energies and South African mid-tier gold producer Pan African Resources, which has gold production capacity of over 200,000 oz gold per year.
The grid connection follows the South African government’s decision in 2021 to raise the license threshold for integrated generation projects from 1 MW to 100 MW, with the aim of alleviating the energy crisis by unlocking private generation capacity.
To achieve grid compliance, projects must demonstrate compliance with the Renewable Power Plant Grid Connection Code.
“We are delighted that Elikhulu will be the first large-scale behind-the-meter customer project to earn Eskom’s seal of approval, confirming that the project adhered to very rigorous grid connection standards,” said JUWI MD. richard doyle.
“As a pioneer leading the deployment of private generation by major power users, Elikhulu will unlock significant new generation capacity and reduce pressure on the national grid, contributing to fewer load shedding cases,” he added. Doyle in a statement to weekly mining.
London’s Pan African AIM and JSE engages in widespread environmental, social and governance (ESG) advocacy.
“For Pan African Resources, mining is also about sustainability and goes beyond compliance, which means we are committed to implementing renewable energy solutions across all of our South African operations,” said the Pan African director. IS G. barry naicker.
“We are grateful that the Elikhulu PV plant is online and operating efficiently, and we are pleased that it is the first project of its kind to be connected to the South African grid. This represents a major turning point in the country’s transition to clean energy,” added Naicker.
When Pan African started the Elikhulu plant, the license threshold was 10 MW. With the further increase in the license threshold to 100 MW, the mining company plans to expand output from the plant to 22 MW in 2023 to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve efficiency, which will reduce the cost of gold production.
JUWI, which has hundreds of megawatts of similar utility-scale projects in various stages of development for private power users and mining companies, develops solar, wind and hybrid renewable energy solutions.
