Trevali taps EMESCO for solar power contract at Rosh Pinah mine

Posted by Daniel Gleeson on 7th April 2021

Trevali Mining has entered into a 15-year renewable Power Purchase Agreement with Emerging Markets Energy Services Company (EMESCO) for the supply of solar power to its Rosh Pinah zinc-lead-silver mine in Namibia.

Trevali has committed to achieving an overall greenhouse gas emission reduction target of 25% by 2025 from its 2018 baseline, with the PPA anticipated to deliver 30% of Rosh Pinah’s power requirements during the life of the agreement and reduce GHG emissions at the company level by 6%.

EMESCO will be responsible for the design, permitting, financing and implementation of a solar energy system on a neighbouring property at no cost to Trevali. EMESCO will then sell the power generated to Trevali at a fixed rate that is expected to reduce energy costs by 18% over the 15-year term of the agreement.

EMESCO was chosen based on a variety of factors, including expertise in the field of renewable energy, an understanding of the scope of work required, the ability to execute and deliver on Trevali’s requirements, and pricing, the miner said.

If Trevali makes a positive investment decision on the RP2.0 expansion project, which could see output rise to 3,600 t/d from 2,000 t/d, EMESCO will increase the delivery of power to Rosh Pinah to remain at 30% of the mine’s annual energy consumption as regulated by the Modified Single Buyer framework in Namibia, it added.

Ricus Grimbeek, President & CEO, said: “Our sustainability program commits to significant reductions in GHG emissions, and with the signing of this agreement with EMESCO we have taken a major step towards delivering on our commitment by securing renewable energy while also reducing our expected energy costs.

“The agreement with EMESCO has been designed to scale with the output of the mine so that when we are ready to make the decision to build the RP2.0 Expansion project, the delivery of power will increase to match our requirements.

“We are extremely excited by this partnership at Rosh Pinah and continue to study ways to reduce Trevali’s GHG emissions and deliver on this and our other sustainability targets.”