Seriti Resources, a coal producer in South Africa, announced on Monday that it would spend $730 million to build a 450 megawatt wind farm in Mpumalanga as the first step in its proposed acquisition of Windlab Africa.
Seriti, a major coal supplier to South Africa’s state power utility Eskom, intends to pay $55 million for a 51% stake in Windlab Africa’s wind and solar energy assets.
Windlab Africa is currently owned by Windlab Pty Ltd of Australia and has 3.5 gigawatts of renewable energy projects in various stages of development in South Africa and East Africa.
Windlab Africa managing director Peter Venn, who will lead Seriti Green, the coal miner’s renewable energy unit, said the 450 MW wind farm would cost 12 billion rand ($732.25 million) to build.
“Immediately following the close of this transaction, we will be focusing on attempting to build out 450 megawatts in Mpumalanga in Q1/Q2 next year,” Venn told reporters.
Mpumalanga province is home to the majority of South Africa’s coal mines and thermal power plants, which employ thousands and are central to plans to replace fossil fuel with renewable energy projects that will sustain local communities and businesses.
A worldwide push for clean energy sources has put pressure on coal miners to reduce production of the fossil fuel, a major contributor to carbon emissions.
“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,” Seriti Chief Executive Mike Teke said in a statement.
Seriti produces approximately 50 million tonnes of thermal coal, the majority of which is used to fuel South Africa’s power plants.
