- The R715 million solar plant will enhance sustainability at the gold mine.
- The solar plant can generate 50MW or 103GWh/year.
Gold Fields’ South Deep mine in Gauteng is in the process of finalizing and commissioning its solar plant to boost its energy reliability.
Construction is complete on the 50MW Khanyisa solar plant. Now the commissioning process involves balancing supply and demand for self-generated electricity to optimize the plant and ensure maximum benefit.
The R715 million solar plant will enhance sustainability at the gold mine and contribute to the mining company’s net-zero commitments. South Deep currently consumes around 494GWh of electricity annually. This represents 10% of the mine’s annual cost and 93% of its carbon emissions.
The solar plant can generate 50MW or 103GWh/year. This should significantly benefit the mine and mitigate its negative impact on the environment by reducing its carbon footprint by about 110,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, lessening its reliance on the erratic national grid and lowering its energy cost, saving about 24% of annual electricity costs.
Martin Preece, Executive Vice President of Gold Fields South Africa, said the solar plant would, in time, will be expanded to 60MW.