- A new photovoltaic solar power plant is operational in southeast Madagascar, supplying electricity to Rio Tinto’s Fort-Dauphin mining site.
- CrossBoundary Energy financed and built the plant with an 8 MWp capacity.
In southeast Madagascar, a new photovoltaic solar power plant supplies electricity to the Fort-Dauphin mining site. Which is operated by the Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto.
The plant, financed and built by CrossBoundary Energy, has a capacity of 8 MWp. QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM) is starting its energy transition with solar power.
The mining company, owned by the Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto, just inaugurated a photovoltaic solar power plant to supply electricity to its Fort-Dauphin mine. Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina attended the event.
The new power station at Ehoala has 14,640 solar panels that can deliver 8 MWp. In 2021, Rio Tinto and investor CrossBoundary Energy signed a partnership to supply 30 MW of renewable energy to the QMM facilities.
The Nairobi-based company committed to providing 30 MW of renewable energy to the QMM facilities. The recently inaugurated solar power plant is the first phase, followed by a second 6 MWp plant.
CrossBoundary will also build a wind farm comprising 19 turbines with a combined capacity of 19 MW. President Andry Rajoelina sees such initiatives as contributing to decarbonising the island’s economy.
“The Malagasy government recognises the vital importance of an adaptable industry that contributes to the effort to combat climate change,” he said. At Fort Dauphin in the Anosy region, QMM produces ilmenite, a significant source of titanium dioxide.
Users mainly use this product as a white pigment in paints and paper. The Rio Tinto subsidiary also produces zir sill to make ceramic tiles and electronic products and monazite, a rare earth mineral used in renewable energy technologies such as high-power permanent magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles.