One of the coal producers and suppliers to South African power generator, Eskom, Seriti Resources has pledged to invest $730 million in Mpumalanga.
The coal producer has promised to build a 450-megawatt wind farm in Mpumalanga to fast-track a foray into renewable energy.
This development follows a proposed acquisition of Windlab Africa and according to SowetanLIVE, the privately-owned Seriti is a major coal supplier to South Africa’s state power utility Eskom.
The company also plans to purchase a 51% stake in Windlab Africa’s wind and solar energy assets valued at a whopping $55 million.
While Windlab Africa is under the ownership of Australia’s Windlab Pty Ltd, it has 3.5 gigawatts of renewable energy projects at different stages of development in South Africa and east Africa.
Windlab Africa’s managing director Peter Venn, who is tasked with managing Seriti Green’s renewable energy unit, said the 450 MW wind farm would cost 12 billion rands ($732.25 million).
“We will be focusing on trying to build out 450 megawatts in Mpumalanga in Q1/Q2 next year, immediately post closure of this transaction,” Venn told reporters.
The province of Mpumalanga is the major role player as the host of South Africa’s coal mines and thermal power plants that employ thousands.
Miners of coal, a major source of carbon emissions, have come under pressure to wind down production of the fossil fuel amid a global push towards clean sources of energy.
As things stand, Seriti is the producer of about 50 million tonnes of thermal coal, the bulk of which is used to fire South Africa’s power stations, and the company’s CEO Mike Teke said this project makes business sense.
“We need to be moving towards a lower carbon future through investing capital from coal into green energy. It is not only the right thing to do, but it makes business and societal sense,” Teke said in a statement.
Main Image: Why Africa/Twitter
