JUWI Renewable Energies said on Tuesday it has 400 MW of advanced-stage engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects that are being delivered for the purpose of “wheeling” power to mines in South Africa.
Among those projects is the 89-MW Castle wind farm in the Northern Cape province which just recently achieved financial close.
This particular project was initially developed by JUWI as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers’ Programme (REI4P) and subsequently sold to a consortium led by the African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), a division of Old Mutual Alternative Investments (OMAI). Once up and running, the Castle wind farm will feed power into the grid to the benefit of Sibanye-Stillwater’s local mining operations.
Richard Doyle, managing director of JUWI SA, commented that South African mines are turning to renewables due to the energy crisis, commercial considerations and efforts to reach decarbonisation targets.
“The right regulation has been needed to translate this demand into actual projects for mines. The amendments to the licence-exemption threshold and ability to wheel electricity are now allowing us to pivot projects initially developed for REI4P, such as the Castle Wind project, into the private sector, making them a reality,” he added.
At the start of 2023, JUWI had 4 GW of renewable energy projects in various stages of development across Africa and expects to initiated an additional 1 GW throughout the course of the year.