B2Gold Namibia, a unit of Canada-based mining company B2Gold Corp., has said that it will expand its renewable energy intake at its Otjikoto Mine in central Namibia with a new 10 MW solar plant.
Sustainable Power Solutions, a South African company, is constructing the project through its Namibian representative, Fortitude Property Group. B2Gold will purchase all power generated by the €11 million plant.
B2Gold Namibia's country manager, John Roos, told pv magazine that the facility will start supplying power from January 2025, with an agreement to supply the mine for eight years.
The Otjikoto Mine in Namibia is expected to produce between 180,000 and 200,000 ounces of gold in 2024. The mine depends on electricity supplied by Namibia’s state power utility company, NamPower, from which it draws about 14 MW to 15 MW constantly for its mining operations. Energy consumption takes up around 6% of the mine’s operating expenditure, said Roos.
Namibia caps renewable energy consumption at 30% outside of power supplied by NamPower. However, the Electricity Control Board may raise this cap due to the growing number of solar arrays, wind farms, and green hydrogen sites. Roos said that if the cap increases, B2Gold Namibia plans to maximize its use of renewable energy to cut CO2 emissions.
B2Gold Corp. has already announced a target to reduce its scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% by 2030, against a 2021 baseline.
B2Gold is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and operates gold mines in Mali, Namibia, the Philippines, and Canada.
Namibia’s current installed renewable capacity is just over 30% of total generation. The government plans to expand power generation capacities, with 60% expected from renewable energy by 2030. A total of 760 MW of grid-connected renewable energy capacity is expected to be installed by that time.
Figures from the Electricity Control Board show that Namibia will have 990 MW of electricity added to the national grid if various proposed renewable energy projects come to fruition. The projects include solar arrays and wind farms.
NamPower’s current renewable energy projects include the 20 MW Khan solar project, the 44 MW Diaz wind farm, the 50 MW CERIM wind project, the 100 MW Rosh Pinah solar array, and the 44 MW Otjikoto biomass power station.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Namibia had approximately 170 MW of cumulative installed PV capacity at the end of 2023.
Author: Chamwe Kaira
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