Syrah takes FID on solar-plus-storage project at Mozambique graphite mine

• Australian minerals miner Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) has reached a final investment decision (FID) on a project to mount a 11.25-MWp solar farm with an 8.5-MW/ MWh battery power storage system (BESS) at its Balama graphite procedure in Mozambique.

The move is rooted in the December 2020 memorandum of understanding that Syrah authorized with solar as well as storage programmer Solarcentury Africa to tackle the effort. Afterwards, the partners took place to finalise the layout, engineering as well as procurement side of the project, select innovation services and structure financing, Syrah stated.

CrossBoundary Power, an Africa-focused investment platform for renewables, will offer funding, and provide the solar-plus-storage system by means of its Mozambique integrated project business. That business will certainly embark on the project under a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) arrangement, that includes a ten-year operating lease as well as a procedure as well as upkeep contract. After completion of the ten-year BOOT term, the hybrid system will be moved to Syrah at no cost, the miner said.

Solarcentury Africa collaborated with Syrah during the permitting stages of the project, as well as will continue to accept Syrah and also CBE via building, setup and up to commercial procedure.

The brand-new solar-plus-storage system is anticipated to begin running before the end of the March 2023 quarter, Syrah claimed.

When online, the hybrid plant will can meeting some 35% of Balama site's power needs on average, and as much as 100% during peak daylight times. Currently, Balama's operations are powered just by a 15-MW on-site diesel generation plant, which Syrah completely possesses and runs. The lack of neighboring high-voltage transmission network prevents Balama from utilizing grid electricity, the mining company added.