Heavy mineral sands producer Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) has signed a third power purchase agreement (PPA) which brings its total agreed renewable energy power arrangements to 500 MW.
The latest PPA was signed with independent power producer Red Rocket South Africa, which is building the Overberg Wind Farm, in the Western Cape.
Construction on the first phase of the wind farm is expected to start before June, with first energy flow targeted for December 2026.
The wind farm will be developed and commissioned in two phases, with RBM having been allocated 230 MW of the project’s total 380 MW export capacity.
RBM expects the renewable energy from this project to reduce its yearly greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by about 30%, or 700 000 t of CO2-equivalent.
RBM previously signed PPAs to procure electricity from the Bolobedu solar PV project, in Limpopo, with construction on the 130 MW plant already under way; and from the Khangela Emoyeni Wind Farm, near Murraysburg, in the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces.
Bolobedu will supply RBM with 300 GWh/y of clean electricity.
This 140 MW project will deliver about 460 GWh/y to RBM through a wheeling arrangement with Eskom. Construction on Khangela started in July 2024 and is progressing well.
RBM, a subsidiary of Australia-headquartered Rio Tinto, has operations in KwaZulu-Natal and is taking steps to displace electricity generated from coal with solutions including solar PV, wind and other renewable technologies.
The Overberg Wind Farm represents the biggest project in RBM’s renewable-energy procurement and is a key step to the company achieving its 50% emissions reduction target by 2030, relative to a 2018 baseline, before reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
RBM consumes about 1.8 TWh/y of electricity, which traditionally emits 1.6-million tonnes of CO2-equivalent, or 80% of its overall GHG emissions.
Together, the three PPAs will reduce RBM’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions by about 60%, or 1.4-million tonnes of CO2-equivalent, compared with its 2018 figures. 