juwi to construct world’s largest solar hybrid project at an off-grid mine for Centamin in Egypt.

The Cape Town based subsidiary of German renewable energy specialist juwi AG, signed an agreement with Sukari Gold Mines to design, supply, build and integrate a solar battery hybrid power plant for Egypt’s largest gold mine. Centamin plc owns and operates the mine in partnership with the Egyptian Government. The hybrid power plant is expected to be operational in the second quarter of next year, after which juwi will undertake the plant operation and maintenance.

Dave Manning, Director Global Hybrid at juwi said “We look forward to assisting Centamin to reduce carbon emissions and cost of power to the Sukari Gold Mine. This global flagship project highlights significant benefits that African mines can unlock with solar battery hybrid solutions powered with juwi Hybrid IQ.”

The solar system designed by juwi has maximised generation with bifacial solar PV modules and a single axis tracking system, taking advantage of the high irradiance at site. Juwi Hybrid IQ micro-grid technology will enable the integration of the solar and battery system into the existing off-grid network and support the operation of the existing power station.

The benefits of the hybrid power solution at Sukari include:

• Reducing diesel consumption by an estimated 22 million litres-e per year;
• Lowering carbon emissions by an estimated 60,000 t CO₂-e per every year;
• Reduction of all in sustaining costs;
• Reduced exposure to fuel price volatility;
• Increased reliability of the power system.

Amiram Roth-Deblon, Director Global Business Initiatives at juwi comments: “Our proven track record with hybrid designs and project delivery in locations with some of the world’s best solar resources enables our clients to drive down cash operating costs with maximized throughput and reliability. The collaboration with Centamin and its forward-looking expert advisors has been crucial for the closure of the project.

We are glad also to work with our Egyptian construction partner Giza Systems to deliver this groundbreaking project. I would like to thank the entire team for their contribution.”

Stephan Hansen, COO and board member of juwi AG adds: “The mining industry accounts for 10 percent of the global energy consumption and many minerals play a vital role for the energy transition. We are glad to support the resource industry on their de-carbonisation pathway with our dependable solar, wind and battery solutions”.

juwi has already achieved remarkable success for mining clients globally with the world’s first utility scale solar battery hybrid project at the DeGrussa Copper mine. This was followed by Agnew Gold in 2019 and another five utility scale hybrid projects currently under construction: Esperance, Pan African Resources, Jacinth Ambrosia, Jabiru and Gruyere. With Sukari, juwi will provide a new benchmark of power systems for mines in Africa and internationally.

Since the founding of the company in 1996, juwi has, in sum, built over 5,400 MW of wind and solar projects in more than 25 countries.
 

About the juwi group

The juwi group is one of the leading specialists for renewable energies. The German renewable energy pioneer has been offering complete project development as well as other services relating to the planning, construction and operation of renewable energy systems for 25 years. The juwi group's business areas include projects with wind and solar energy as well as hybrid systems with storage systems for industrial applications.

Juwi was founded in 1996 in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The company is now based in Wörrstadt near Mainz and has been part of Mannheim-based MVV Energie AG, one of the largest municipal energy providers in Germany, since the end of 2014. The juwi group employs around 850 people worldwide and has projects on every continent. There are subsidiaries in: Germany, Italy, Greece, South Africa, the USA, Japan, Australia, India as well as the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.

To date, juwi has implemented more than 1,000 wind energy systems with an output of more than 2,400 megawatts at around 180 locations worldwide; in the solar segment there are around 1,800 PV systems with a total output of more than 3,000 megawatts. Together, these energy systems generate around nine billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year; In purely mathematical terms, this corresponds to the annual requirements of around three million households in Germany. For the implementation of the energy projects, juwi has initiated an investment volume of almost ten billion euros over the past 25 years.