- Mining company, Sibanye-Stillwater, has signed its first power purchase agreement (PPA) an AIMM led consortium’s 89MW Castle Wind Farm, located near the town of De Aar in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.
- The plant will supply their SA operations via a wheeling agreement with Eskom.
- This will be the largest wind project with a private off-taker in South Africa to date.
- Construction is expected to commence in June 2023 with commercial operation expected in early 2025.
The project consortium consists of African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), through its renewable energy project development and delivery platform, African Clean Energy Developments (ACED) and Reatile Renewables. AIIM is a division of Old Mutual Alternative Investments (OMAI) and has invested in the project through its IDEAS Fund, one of South Africa’s largest domestic infrastructure equity funds. Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), a division of FirstRand Bank Limited, is the sole mandated lead arranger for the project.
Under the terms of the 15-year PPA, the Castle Wind Farm will be funded, built, and operated by the consortium.
Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater said, “This marks our first major step in delivering over 550 MW of our renewable project portfolio and is a significant milestone in our journey to carbon neutrality by 2040. The project will not only play a pivotal role in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change but also results in cost savings on electricity and provides energy security benefits for Sibanye-Stillwater’s SA operations. Additionally, it will also contribute to addressing the electricity challenges in South Africa. We look forward to bringing the project into operation.”
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
