Kibali, a gold mine in the Haut-Uele Province of the north-east of the Democratic Repulic of Congo (DRC) will soon benefit additional renewable energy as Barrick Gold Corporation, which operates the mine, is on track with a 16MW solar farm project.
This project set to increase the mine’s renewable energy supply from 79 to 88 per cent with the potential to run on 100 per cent renewable energy during the wet season.
According to media reports, the site for the solar farm has been identified and cleared and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is on progress with an expectation of the solar facility to be commissioned in 2025.
Kibali has been operating on its own generated electricity since 2013 when its first poureed its gold mineas its concession area is not serviced by an electricity utility provider.
The Africa’s biggest gold mine producing up to 750 koz of gold a year from both the open and underground pits has its power demands currently averaging about 40MW.
To meet the demand, the Kibali has some onsite, high-speed diesel generator s mix sets providing 32MW and offsite hydropower stations.
Some of these hydropower stations include Nzoro, the biggest one with 22MW capacity and which was commissioned in 2014. This is followed by Ambaru with 11MW capacity commissioned in 2016 and Azambi also with 11MW capacity commissioned in 2018.
All these are run-off-river schemes located within 30km of Kibali and connected to the mine via a 66kV overhead line network.