OVERVIEWEnergyAMEA Power
OVERVIEWEnergyAMEA Power has signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement.SECTOR INSIGHTWheeling has come to theNorth West.Dubai-based AMEA Power has signed a 20-year Power PurchaseAgreement (PPA) with Eskom for the 120MW DoornhoekSolar Photovoltaic (PV) Project. Among the signatorieswere Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of AMEA Power, and theMinister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, pictured.The project was awarded through Bid Window 6 of the RenewableEnergy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme(REIPPPP) and signals AMEA Power’s strategic entry into the country’srapidly growing renewable-energy market.The North West Province did not have many bids allocated to itin the early stages of the REIPPPP but it is quickly making up for losttime. AMEA Power is the majority shareholder in the 0-millionproject, which is located near Klerksdorp, and has partnered withZiyanda Energy and Dzimuzwo Energy, wholly owned by Africanwomen. The project will receive debt funding from Standard BankSouth Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) willprovide equity funding for the local partners. To further solidify itscommitment to the South African market, AMEA Power opened anoffice in Johannesburg in 2023 to serve as the company’s regionalhub for Southern African.Tronox and Sola have signed Africa’s biggest corporate renewableenergyPPA, related to two solar plants near Lichtenburg in theDitsobotla Local Municipality, collectively known as the SelemelaSolar Park. This agreement takesadvantage of recently promulgatedchanges to regulations, wherebyenergy wheeling is allowed.Wheeling means the power will besupplied through the national gridbut it is generated and purchasedin geographically distinct locations.The reduction in annual CO2emissions related to these facilitiesis expected to be 595 tons. Thetwo solar plants, which wereconstructed in 2022, reachedcommercial operation on 24 April2024, with 256MWp installedcapacity delivering 200MW ofclean, sustainable energy into theEskom Transmission Network. Asa result, Tronox Mineral Sands’operations in KwaZulu-Nataland the Northern Cape are nowreceiving energy via the network.Stilfontein, on the N12 highwaybetween Potchefstroom andKlerksdorp, has been identifiedas the possible site of a solarpanel manufacturing plant. Thelocations of both the Doornhoekand the Selemela projectswould support the case forStilfontein. A feasibility studyis to be done and the NorthWest Development Corporationwill lobby Infrastructure SouthAfrica (ISA) for the Stilfonteinconcept to be included in nationalplans with regard to solar panelmanufacturing.NORTH WEST BUSINESS 2025/2620
The private sector has been active in constructing its ownrenewable-energy infrastructure. Around 30% of the energyrequirements of Rhovan’s vanadium mining and processing operationsnear Brits are expected to be covered by the 25MW solar PVplant under construction there. Rhovan, managed by GlencoreFerroalloys, expects to save 48 000 tons in CO2e (CO2 equivalent)emissions in the course of a year.Sun City is living up to its name with the installation of a R16-millionroof-based solar system. The power produced will be the equivalentof what 329 average-sized South African households consume overa year.When the sun is shining, the panels will provide about 14% of theresort’s electrical demand. The investment is expected to pay for itselfwithin five years and have a lifespan beyond 25 years. The plant willreduce Sun City’s annual CO2e emissions by an estimated 2 510 tons.More alternativesPilanesberg Platinum Mines introduced its Kell processing plant in2021, a technology that reduces electricity usage and eliminatessulphur dioxide emissions in smelting. With platinum group metals(PGMs) attracting good prices partly because of the role they canplay in the hoped-for lower-carbon economy, cleaner and cheapermethods of extraction and processing offer even sunnier projectionsfor the miners of PGMs. Big mining companies are among thebiggest users of energy and many belong to the Energy IntensiveUsers Group of Southern Africa (EIUG).The Bio-Energy research group, located within the Faculty ofEngineering at the North-West University, is active in the field ofsecond and third-generation bio-refinery research, covering bothbiochemical and thermochemical production. The group compriseschemists, biochemists, microbiologists and chemical engineers andfalls under the university’s Centre of Excellence in Carbon-based Fuelswhich has two other components, researchers looking into the futureof coal and another investigating how best to control emissions.Bioethanol, biodiesel and methane gas from waste and renewableresources are among the types of biofuels under discussion.Sunflower seeds and sweet sorghum are suitable for converting intoThe Selemela Solar Park providesTronox with wheeled power.biofuel and bioethanol. SilversandsEthanol is a NorthWest company that producesbioethanol with the feedstockbeing sugar from sugar beet.South Africa’s nuclear researchcentre is located at Pelindabanear Hartbeespoort Dam andis run by the South AfricanNuclear Energy Corporation.The NWU Nuclear EngineeringDepartment is the only oneof its kind in the country, andthe National Department ofScience and Technology hasallocated a chair in NuclearEngineering to the university.The Provincial Government ofthe North West is revising itsProvincial Energy Strategy totake into account the rapidlychanging global energyenvironment. A joint technicalteam of experts has beenestablished with the North-West University to revise thedocument with special attentionto be given to the issues ofenergy security. ■ONLINE RESOURCESEnergy Intensive Users Group of Southern Africa: www.eiug.org.zaSouth African Independent Power Producers Association: www.saippa.org.zaSouth African Photovoltaic Industry Association: www.sapvia.co.zaSouth African Renewable Energy Council: www.sarec.org.zaPHOTO: SOLA Group21 NORTH WEST BUSINESS 2025/26
