Voltalia inks South Africa solar PPA with Rio Tinto

• Developer is constructing a 148MW project in Limpopo province to provide output for the agreement

Voltalia has participated in a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with a subsidiary of Rio Tinto for 148MW of solar output in South Africa.

The power will be created by Voltalia's Bolobedu site, a 148MW solar farm to be integrated in the Limpopo province of north eastern South Africa.

Voltalia will certainly establish, construct as well as run the plant and also production is anticipated to start in 2024.

The agreement was authorized adhering to a procedure introduced in 2021 by Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), South Africa's biggest manufacturer of mineral sands and also a subsidiary of the Anglo-Australian metals as well as mining group.

The 20-year contract will certainly provide approximately 300 gigawatt hrs of renewable energy annually with a wheeling agreement and also RBM's generation facilities in KwaZulu-Natal.

The CPPA means that RBM will certainly take advantage of even more trusted access to power in the long term while decreasing its yearly greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1 and 2) by at least 10%.

As part of its objective, Voltalia will guarantee that the Bolobedu solar project has a positive impact on the setting and surrounding communities by developing neighborhood job opportunity.

A total labor force of more than 700 individuals is anticipated throughout building, and then regarding 50 people once the plant is operational.

In order to support the expanding value chain of south Africa's renewable energy market, Voltalia will certainly likewise intend to source goods as well as services locally.

Sébastien Clerc, President of Voltalia, said: "We are really happy to support RBM in the decarbonisation of its commercial tasks in South Africa.

" The Bolobedu solar nuclear power plant will certainly be our largest project in Africa, having completed the building of a series of various other solar power plants for ouraccount or for third-party customers on the continent (Zimbabwe, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritania and also Egypt).

" This project is the very first in our South African portfolio of solar as well as wind power plants under development, in areas where grid connection is available, and also which will be ready to help our consumers conquer the present power crisis with inexpensive, tidy and stable electricity."