Mzansi Energy Consortium (Mzansi Energy) has been appointed by Palabora Mining Company to develop a 132MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and battery energy storage system (BESS) capable of storing 310MWh of electricity.
The power plant, dubbed “Marula Green Power,” is expected to be built in two stages: construction and operation and maintenance. The project is scheduled to close in the second quarter of 2023 and begin operations in the second quarter of 2024. The current timelines are preliminary and may change depending on the results of the Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS). When completed, the project will be one of South Africa’s largest private Independent Power Producers (IPPs), providing PMC with both electricity and heat.
Wessel Wessels, CEO of Journey2Green (a founding partner in Mzansi Energy), says the parties will finalise a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) at the end of a Detailed Feasibility Study in the next six to eight months, beginning in October 2022 and ending in May 2023.
“Mzansi Energy will design, finance, build, operate, and maintain the plant for a period of 12 years. “The plant will be based within the municipal jurisdiction of Ba-Phalaborwa, Limpopo, just outside Namakgale township, it will be approximately 20km from the mine. The location is strategically chosen to allow for direct supply to the mine without connection to the Eskom grid,” Wessels explains.
According to the study, Mzansi Energy has partnered with the local traditional authority to identify the ideal location, subject to the final Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The authority will host the solar power plant on its land and enter into a long-term lease – the long-term lease is conditional on specific socio-economic benefits for all local Ba-Phalaborwa communities, such as business opportunities for SMMEs, skills transfer / development, job creation, and so on.
During the project’s implementation phases, many direct and indirect job opportunities will be created, and local suppliers in the Ba-Phalaborwa region will be exposed to available business opportunities. According to preliminary estimates, the project will generate 500 to 750 short-term job opportunities.
Tumi Mogoera, Associate Director of Summit Partners (another founding partner in Mzansi Energy), says the project is one step towards helping South Africa address its electricity challenges. “Additionally, the Marula Green Power plant will contribute to our nation’s Just Energy Transition (JET) net zero carbon emissions strategy,” Mogoera points out.
The Marula Green Power project will be built in two stages. The first phase, which will go live in the second quarter of 2024, will gradually commission 310MWh of storage capacity. The commissioning will reduce PMC’s load-reduction-driven power cuts and support applications such as Energy Arbitrage and Demand Savings. The second phase, which will run concurrently, is the construction of the 132MWp Solar Plant and transmission lines to PMC, which will be operational in the fourth quarter of 2024. The Marula Green Power Plant will be funded through a limited recourse project finance structure at no cost to the mine, and it is expected to reach financial close by the end of the year.
