Richards Bay Minerals switches on 148MW Bolobedu solar farm

Richards Bay Minerals said on 8 April 2026 that the first megawatt-hours of electricity from the newly commissioned Bolobedu solar farm in Limpopo province had been fed into South Africa's national grid. The 148MW plant, built by international renewable energy company Voltalia together with local Black Economic Empowerment partners including a Balobedu community trust, will supply roughly 300GWh a year of renewable power to RBM's production facilities under a 20-year agreement.

A large-scale build

The project, developed under an agreement signed in 2022, comprises 218,250 solar panels spread across 347 hectares. Construction employed around 800 local workers, with 56% drawn from youth and 21% women, giving the project a meaningful local economic footprint beyond its role in decarbonising RBM's power supply.

Cutting emissions at scale

Once fully operational, RBM said Bolobedu would reduce the mine's annual baseline greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10%, or about 237,000 tonnes a year — a significant cut for an energy-intensive mineral sands operation that smelts ilmenite into higher-value titanium feedstock. The solar farm is one of three power purchase agreements RBM has signed for roughly 500MW of renewable capacity, all scheduled to be operational by the end of 2026.

Why RBM is investing in its own power

Like much of South African heavy industry, Richards Bay Minerals has faced years of unreliable and increasingly expensive grid electricity from Eskom, pushing energy-intensive miners and smelters to secure their own generation capacity. Unlike South Africa's ferrochrome producers, who have leaned on negotiated Eskom tariffs to survive the same cost pressure, RBM's response has been to build dedicated renewable capacity that reduces its reliance on the grid altogether.

What it means going forward

With Bolobedu now feeding power to the grid for RBM's use and further renewable capacity due online later in 2026, the mineral sands producer is positioning itself as less exposed to South Africa's electricity price and supply volatility than smelting-dependent chrome and manganese producers elsewhere in the country's minerals sector.

The project also adds to a broader pattern of large South African mining and mineral processing operations turning to dedicated renewable generation, rather than waiting for Eskom's own supply and pricing challenges to resolve.

Sources

• Mining Weekly: Voltalia commissions 148 MW solar plant for Richards Bay Minerals, 08 Apr 2026
• Voltalia: Bolobedu Solar power plant reaches commissioning in South Africa, 08 Apr 2026

Photo: Limpopo province, South Africa, where the Bolobedu solar farm supplies power to Richards Bay Minerals. MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.