Energy

Powering up the DRC's Kamoa-Kakula mine (Image source: Ivanhoe Mines)

Ivanhoe Mines has reported that the new on-site hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) facility at its Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is expected to slash energy costs by US$0.10/lb. to US$0.20/lb. of payable copper produced

In its Q3 update, it noted that the on-site power plant with battery energy storage system (BESS) was fully ramped up by the end of the quarter, delivering 60 MW of continuous baseload electricity to the DRC complex.

“This is expected to reduce energy costs by $0.10/lb. to $0.20/lb. of payable copper produced, as Kakula dewatering is switched over from being powered by back-up diesel generators, to the new facility in mid-October,” the company reported in early November.

Kamoa-Kakula is now advancing plans to double baseload power from the hybrid solar facilities to 120 MW by the end of Q1 2028.

Two tenders, totalling 60 MW, were awarded, along with accompanying power purchase agreements (PPA) signed in Q2 and Q3.

In addition, discussions are underway to expand the existing hybrid solar facilities by a further 30 MW, bringing total on-site planned capacity to 150 MW, Ivanhoe Mines added.

Founder and co-chairman Robert Friedland said operational improvements made are now delivering tangible results.

“Our phased investment in solar power is already displacing very expensive diesel-powered generation,” he said.

“These structural improvements will strengthen Kamoa-Kakula’s competitiveness long after our current challenges have been overcome.”

Kipushi zinc mine

A similar blueprint is in place to provide power for its Kipushi zinc mine as well.

The tender for Kipushi’s hybrid solar PV project is expected to be awarded in the first quarter of 2027, the company said in its Q3 update.

The facility will be designed to provide 10 MW of continuous baseload power, providing approximately 50% of the site’s energy needs.It is expected to be operational by mid-2028 and will “significantly reduce diesel consumption from on-site backup generators,” the statement added.

Since quarter-end, Kipushi’s operations have also been supported by an additional 10 MW of grid-supplied power from third-party providers.

“The additional power is expected to reduce power instability at Kipushi and reduce power costs from the back-up diesel generators,” the company noted.

Incorporating distributed energy resources into Africa's grid (Image source: Adobe Stock)

With Africa’s energy makeup increasingly decentralised, driven by the advent of rooftop solar, electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage resources (ESRs), utilities are facing a fundamental challenge – how do they connect more distributed energy resources (DERs) to the grid without compromising its stability? By Nishandra Bajinath, digital grid, head of sales in sub-Saharan Africa at Schneider Electric

As more customers become energy producers as well as consumers, the traditional approach to managing electricity networks is being tested. Previously, the national grid was largely designed around a relatively predictable model of centralised generation flowing through transmission and distribution networks to customers.

Today, customers may consume electricity, generate it, store it and — where regulations and connection arrangements allow — export it back into the network, resulting in power flowing bi-directionally, while the amount of generation connected at the edge of the network can change significantly from one customer to the next.

This introduces greater variability and more complex power flows at the grid edge. The opportunity is significant, but unlocking it requires utilities to understand not only where distributed resources are connected, but also how they affect the network under different operating conditions.

From connecting DERs to understanding their impact

One of the most important questions is how much additional generation, storage or flexible demand can be hosted in a given part of the network while ensuring utilities keep it safe and reliable?

A comprehensive system-level review on Energy Transition Resilience Gaps published in ScienceDirect outlines that current operational metrics are completely fragmented. Operators face massive “major event blind spots” because existing data tracking fails to properly integrate cyber-physical interdependencies and dynamic, localised grid realities.

And it is here where visibility becomes critical A traditional electricity network may have relatively stable physical infrastructure: high-voltage (HV) substations, medium-voltage (MV) and low-voltage networks, ring main units and other assets whose characteristics are well understood.

The DER landscape, by contrast, is highly dynamic. One household may have an 8-kW inverter, another a 5-kW system, while another may have additional batteries or a different combination of solar panels and storage.

At the commercial and industrial level, the diversity multiplies; factories may deploy large‑scale storage and shopping centres may integrate rooftop PV with demand response programs, and municipalities may be using microgrids.

If you multiply this across thousands of customers, utilities are suddenly dealing with a huge volume of assets and data.

A new operational environment

Utilities therefore need intelligence that can help them understand the electrical characteristics of their networks, assess available hosting capacity and identify where additional DER connections could create constraints.

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), for example, combines DER monitoring, forecasting and control with capabilities such as hosting capacity analysis, grid constraint management and the use of DER flexibility to address network needs.

This allows utilities to become more proactive, understanding where DERs can be connected, what their impact could be and how their flexibility can be used to support the network.

DERMS should be understood as part of a wider Digital Grid environment. SCADA provides telemetry, alarms and authorised field control. EcoStruxure ADMS — or EcoStruxure Grid Operation for smaller and medium-sized utilities — provides the operational network model, distribution analysis, switching and outage-management environment. DERMS complements these systems with DER-specific visibility, forecasting, orchestration and constraint-aware dispatch.

Together, these capabilities can help operators understand where DER is connected, how it is expected to behave and where future conditions may create voltage, thermal or reverse-power-flow constraints.

Turning flexibility into a grid asset

The real opportunity lies in moving beyond simply monitoring DERs to actively using their flexibility to support the network.

Solar generation, batteries, EVs, microgrids and demand-response programmes can all become part of a more flexible electricity system. When coordinated effectively, these resources can help utilities respond to changing network conditions, manage constraints and maximise renewable generation. DERMS can aggregate these resources, evaluate their available flexibility and dispatch individual or grouped resources in response to local or wider system needs.

This does not mean that every rooftop installation, EV or battery is automatically controllable. Participation depends on communications, equipment capability, customer consent, connection agreements, aggregator arrangements and the applicable regulatory framework.

This is particularly important because high levels of renewable generation can introduce challenges such as reverse power flows, voltage issues and thermal constraints. Digital tools can provide utilities with greater situational awareness, helping them identify potential problems in real time as well as anticipate upcoming constraint violations.

Planning for a more distributed energy future

Traditionally, when network capacity becomes constrained, reinforcement may mean building or upgrading physical infrastructure. As DER penetration increases, however, utilities can also consider whether the flexibility available from distributed resources can help manage constraints before capital-intensive reinforcement becomes necessary.

Again, EcoStruxure DERMS supports this approach by enabling utilities to assess different grid reinforcement scenarios, including their technical and economic feasibility, while analysing different levels of DER adoption and their impact under varying load and weather conditions.

The greatest value will come from connecting planning and operations: accurate GIS and network models, SCADA and metering data, DER forecasts, ADMS-based grid awareness, outage-management processes, and DERMS-based flexibility orchestration.

That is how power utilities can move from simply accommodating DER to actively integrating them into a safer, more flexible and renewable-ready electricity system.

Navigating Nigeria's decarbonisation challenge (Image source: Schneider Electric)

Industries today continue to be under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint and align with global climate commitments, writes Belema Koleoso, software leader, West Africa at Schneider Electric

However, as the adage goes, easier said than done, with many countries including Nigeria that still have to overcome numerous challenges to reduce emissions whilst running competitive, sustainable operations.

As it stands, Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), developed in accordance with the Climate Change Act of 2021 and updated in October 2025, pledges to achieve net zero emissions by 2060.

However, without the ability to effectively measure emissions and energy use at a granular level, many manufacturers will continue struggle to build meaningful decarbonisation strategies. And the result; climate ambitions that remain aspirational as opposed to actionable.

Measurement is critical

As mentioned, for many manufacturers, the journey toward sustainability must begin with a simple but critical step: measurement.

A significant number of industrial facilities operate machinery that has been running reliably for decades, but with limited visibility into how efficiently those machines perform. While operators know that production lines are functioning, they often lack insight into the energy intensity, operational efficiency, and emissions impact of the equipment.

Without this visibility, companies are unable to establish a baseline for key performance indicators (KPIs) related to energy use and carbon emissions. And without that baseline, it becomes extremely difficult to create a credible decarbonisation roadmap.

Measurement should therefore become the important, first step any sustainability strategy. By understanding exactly how energy is consumed and how emissions are generated across operations, companies can begin to identify where improvements are possible and where investments will deliver the greatest impact.

Establishing visibility and efficiency

The first step toward improved emissions management is typically a comprehensive operational audit. At Schneider Electric, our process involves assessing the existing infrastructure within a plant and identifies gaps in monitoring and digital capabilities.

In many cases, we find facilities operate with a mix of technologies, some modern, others outdated which can be entirely manual processes. The audit helps determine where new monitoring systems, sensors, and digital tools should be introduced.

At the physical layer, this typically often involves deploying connected devices such as:

Temperature sensors

Flow meters

Level sensors

Transmitters

Energy monitoring devices

These sensors, which can be retrofitted, then capture real-time operational data and feed it into control systems where it can be aggregated and analysed.

Once this data is available, automation and analytics can then be introduced to optimise processes. This will allow manufacturers to align energy consumption more closely with production output, ensuring that systems use only the energy required to deliver the desired results.

The next step, optimisation

Once visibility and efficiency are established, the next step is optimisation. Here, we recommend using digital tools and advanced analytics platforms which analyse operational data across multiple processes and identify opportunities to further reduce energy consumption and emissions.

These systems can also support decision-making by recommending specific actions to improve performance.

For example, energy and sustainability management platforms can track emissions data across an organisation and align it with decarbonisation targets. These systems act as digital co-pilots, analysing patterns and performance indicators, which align with sustainability initiatives.

Sustainability management enable companies to answer key questions like:

Where are the largest sources of carbon attribution?

Which processes consume the most energy?

What operational changes could reduce carbon intensity without compromising output?

Decarbonisation is not just a technology challenge

Successful decarbonisation efforts require both organisational and governance alignment. Decarbonisation strategies will therefore typically align three elements:

Technology – digital monitoring, automation, and analytics

People – operational teams trained to use data to improve performance

Governance – policies and frameworks that support carbon accountability

When these elements work together, companies gain a complete view of their operations – from production output and energy consumption to workforce processes and sustainability policies.

Lessons from the energy sector

In Nigeria, progress toward decarbonisation has been more visible in sectors such as oil and gas. Many companies in this industry have already adopted digital monitoring and emissions tracking technologies, partly due to international regulatory expectations and partnerships with global organisations.

Through technology partnerships, many operators have been able to retrofit existing infrastructure with digital monitoring systems that extract new insights from long-standing equipment.

Ultimately, by implementing monitoring technologies, establishing clear governance frameworks, and leveraging digital tools to optimise operations, manufacturers can transform their decarbonisation efforts from a reporting exercise into a strategic advantage.

Solar boost for Benin (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Benin is investing €45mn in four solar power plants, backed by international financiers, to increase domestic electricity production, reduce energy imports, improve energy security and expand clean energy access

It follows the signing of €30mn in financing agreements for the IPP50 solar project from a group of leading financiers that include AXIAN, a pan-African group, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations du Bénin, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Proparco, the private financing arm of Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

The agreements aim to increase domestic power generation, strengthen energy security and expand access to renewable energy across Benin.

The country's first independent power producer (IPP) solar project is expected to supply clean electricity to 383,000 people, reduce reliance on imported power and avoid around 62,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

Benjamin Memmi, CEO of AXIAN Group's energy division, said: IPP50's financial close marks a milestone for AXIAN and the development of Benin's energy sector.

“This project, comprising four solar power plants with a combined capacity of 63 MW, reflects the ambition of the Beninese authorities to accelerate the country's energy transition, particularly through strong partnerships with the private sector,” Memmi said.

“With IPP50, we are once again demonstrating our ability to bring together international partners and financing to turn a vision into tangible infrastructure that serves communities and supports economic development.”

Memmi also cited AXIAN’s partnership with Sika Capital, an investment vehicle jointly owned by Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations du Bénin and Egnon Consulting, which “reflects our conviction that Africa's energy transition depends on strong local roots and long-term commitments.”

Landmark solar financing

A first for solar power financing in BeninThe IPP50 project, with a total project cost of €45mn, represents a significant step towards opening up Benin's power generation sector to private investment.

The project is also part of a public-private partnership structured around concession agreements granted by the Benin government, which is supporting its development and helping to establish a secure contractual framework.

It also contributes to Benin's National Energy Compact, which aims to provide approximately 928,000 additional households with access to electricity by 2030, raise the national electrification rate to at least 70%, and increase the share of renewables to 30% of the power generation mix.

The €30mn financing package is provided jointly by Proparco and IFC, which is mobilising resources from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), an international fund dedicated to financing clean technologies in developing countries.

It will support the construction and operation of the four solar photovoltaic power plants with a combined capacity of 62 MWp in Natitingou, Djougou, Parakou and Bohicon.

Once operational, the plants are expected to generate approximately 110 GWh of renewable electricity annually, equivalent to an increase of around 17% in domestic power generation over the 2028–2035 period.

Nathalie Kouassi Akon, World Bank Group regional director, said financing the IPP50 project demonstrates the role of the private sector in accelerating Benin's energy transition.

“By supporting construction of the solar power plants alongside Proparco, IFC is helping mobilise long-term capital to expand the supply of clean electricity, strengthen the country's energy security and pave the way for further private investment in renewable energy.”

The new investment is also seen to be helping to de-risk Benin's first private-sector, enabling private investors to commit and construction to begin.

“Alongside the Beninese authorities, AXIAN Group, Sika Capital, French contractor Sagemcom and IFC, this transaction reflects our commitment to Benin's energy sovereignty, in full complementarity with the work of AFD Group in the country,” said Sadio Dicko, Proparco's regional director for West Africa.

Electricity generated by the plants will be sold to Société béninoise de production d'électricité (SBPE) under long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).With 20-year concessions and commercial operations scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2028, IPP50 is expected to make a lasting contribution to Benin's electricity supply.