Africa’s largest copper mining complex has started receiving round-the-clock electricity from a 233-megawatt-peak solar farm and one of the continent’s biggest battery-storage systems.
The facility at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo reached commercial operation on August 12, according to CrossBoundary Energy, which announced the development on August 25.
It combines the solar farm with a battery capable of storing 526 megawatt-hours of electricity. The system is designed to provide at least 30 megawatts of continuous power, including when the sun is not shining.
CrossBoundary described it as Africa’s first operational solar and battery facility designed to provide baseload electricity at this scale. The company also said it was completed faster than any comparable African project.
Those claims have not been independently verified.
