Northam Platinum has finalised a renewable energy Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for its Zondereinde mine in Limpopo, helping reduce the miner’s carbon footprint by 22%.
Being constructed as an 80MW solar power plant in the town of Thabazimbi in Limpopo, the project will deliver 220GWh of energy per year directly into Zondereinde’s mining and smelting operations.
“Further benefits include significant cost savings and reduced power supply risk. Construction has commenced with power expected to be available from December 2025,” said Northam Platinum on Friday.
The project comprises a consortium that includes STANLIB Infrastructure Fund II, Royal Bafokeng Holdings, and Energy Group. Project finance for the plant will be provided by Nedbank and Standard Bank.
Northam said the Independent Power Producer was part of a broader strategy to reduce its environmental impact whilst securing the supply of bulk services. The South African miner has set a target to reduce carbon intensity by 60% by 2030.
The company was already exploring other mechanisms of “progressing additional renewable energy projects in a dynamic and rapidly changing technological and legislative” environment.
Northam CEO Paul Dunne said this project was critical for their sustainability.
“Northam is committed to sustainably reducing the environmental impact of our operations, and this, our first major renewable energy project, represents a significant milestone. The environmental, operating cost and energy security benefits implicit in this initiative add additional resilience to our world-class Zondereinde mine,” Dunne said.
Northam raised production by 10.3% and bumped up operating profits to R4.8 billion for the full year period to the end of June. The company also reached an agreement to increase its revolving credit facility to R11.3bn, although basic and headline earnings for the period were softer.
STANLIB Infrastructure Fund II, which holds a 51% equity stake in the Northam Zondereinde solar farm, said the plant sits on the mine’s 9 257 hectare licence area.
It said the Zondereinde plant’s 80MW generating capacity adds on to STANLIB Infrastructure Investments’ energy portfolio that has a total capacity of 1.7GW and accounts for approximately 28% of South Africa’s installed utility-scale renewable energy capacity.
The portfolio has equity interests in 20 utility-scale renewable energy projects, valued at over R12bn.
“Investments, such as this one, in large-scale private sector renewable energy projects outside the Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) are critical to help alleviate this challenge,” said Andy Louw, co-head of infrastructure investments at STANLIB.
STANLIB had developed the Infrastructure Fund to help mobilise and manage capital from retirement funds into a diversified range of South African infrastructure projects while delivering stable and risk appropriate returns, it said.
“The retirement fund industry is a key catalyst in addressing SA’s acute need for infrastructure which is urgently needed to grow the economy and drive employment opportunities for our people,” explained Greg Babaya who also heads up infrastructure investments for STANLIB.