Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) will build a 155-MW wind park in western Kazakhstan to power its Kazchrome Donskoy mine and neighbouring industrial facilities.
The Luxembourg-based natural resources group said today it will invest KZT 110 billion (USD 232m/EUR 232m) to set up the wind farm near the town of Khromtau in the Aktobe region. To be built on an area of 150 hectares, the green energy plant is expected to enter operation in 2024, offsetting some 520,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
The electricity produced by the park will be supplied to ERG's Kazchrome Donskoy plant which claims to be the largest chrome ore mine globally. The plant is a mining and metals business, specialising in geological exploration, mining and mineral processing and the manufacture of value-added metal products.
Along with the mine, the electricity from the wind park will be used to power neighbouring industrial facilities and the Aktobe region.
The project marks ERG's first proprietary wind park and supports the group's decarbonisation strategy, targeting a 56% cut in emissions to air and a 30% drop in emissions to water by the end of this decade.
"This new plant is an important step and I believe that Donskoy GOK’s transition to wind power will be a great success, and one that we will look to replicate at ERG’s other facilities. We hope that the construction of this wind farm serves as an example for other large enterprises in Kazakhstan, and takes the country closer to the ambitious goal of becoming a carbon-neutral state,” said ERG's chairman Alexander Machkevitch.
ERG is a major producer of high-carbon ferrochrome, cobalt and copper with production facilities and development projects in 15 countries, according to its website.
(KZT 100 = USD 0.211/EUR 0.211)
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