Canada based metals miner Trevali Mining Corporation has announced it will source solar power for its Rosh Pinah Mine in Namibia under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with local energy services company, Emerging Markets Energy Services Company (Emesco).
Under the agreement, Emesco will design, secure permitting, arrange financing and implement the solar project of unidentified capacity on a neighboring property and sell power generated to Trevali at a fixed rate. Trevali expects this clean power to reduce its energy costs by 18% over the contract period.
It is expected to deliver 30% of the mine's power requirements and lower GHG emissions at company level by 6%. Here, it mines zinc, lead and silver.
"The agreement with Emesco has been designed to scale with the output of the mine so that when we are ready to make the decision to build the RP2.0 Expansion project, the delivery of power will increase to match our requirements," said Ricus Grimbeek, President and CEO of Trevali.
In January 2021, Namibian state utility NamPower reportedly signed EPC contracts for 2 solar PV projects with 20 MW capacity each in Omburu and Usakos regions (see 40 MW Solar PV Capacity Cleared For Namibia).
At the end of 2020, Namibia's total renewable energy capacity according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reached 501 MW, reflecting annual addition of only 4 MW, with 145 MW of solar energy, unchanged from 2019.