Discovery Green, the renewable energy arm of Discovery, has signed a landmark 20-year power supply agreement with Glencore to deliver renewable electricity to some of the mining group’s coal operations in Mpumalanga.
The deal will see Discovery Green replace most of the electricity consumption at Glencore’s Goedgevonden, Tweefontein and iMpunzi mine complexes, near eMalahleni in the Nkangala District, with renewable energy starting in 2027. The mines collectively consume about 290GWh of electricity a year.
The companies said the agreement was expected to reduce the operations’ direct carbon emissions and provide Glencore with more stable, predictable electricity costs. The energy will be sourced from Discovery Green’s growing portfolio of large-scale wind and solar projects and transmitted to the mines through the national grid.
Andre Nepgen, head of Discovery Green, said the partnership was among the largest private renewable energy trading agreements concluded in SA to date and could be replicated across the mining sector, offering large energy users a structured path towards lower-carbon operations while protecting them from volatility in Eskom’s electricity tariffs.
Glencore joins a list of businesses that have partnered with Discovery Green to transition to renewable energy — including Sasol, Impala Platinum (Implats), Fortress Reit and Southern Sun.
Murray Houston, CEO of Glencore Coal SA, said the agreement formed part of the company’s broader climate transition plan, which includes expanding its renewable energy portfolio while maintaining energy security.
Glencore’s deal with Discovery Green is the latest sign of mining and energy-intensive industries changing their power strategies as SA’s electricity market undergoes major reform.
Years of load-shedding, steep tariff hikes and a wave of legal and policy reforms have reshaped SA’s electricity landscape. Measures such as the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act, which allows market competition, and the removal of licensing thresholds for private generation have accelerated efforts by companies to secure power through private generation or long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with independent producers.
Mining houses have been among the first movers. Seriti Resources is developing a 155MW wind farm through its subsidiary, Seriti Green, to supply its coal mines. Meanwhile, Anglo American and Implats, which is also a Discovery Green client, have announced plans to source a portion of their electricity from renewable sources.
The reforms allow private entities to generate, trade and wheel power through the national grid — breaking Eskom’s near-monopoly over generation and supply.
The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) has in recent months issued a string of new electricity trading licences, paving the way for private companies to buy and sell power on behalf of customers. Among the latest entrants are financial services group Investec, with Solis Energy, SOLA, Africa GreenCo and LinkSolar.
These licences allow nongeneration companies to act as intermediaries, sourcing renewable energy from independent power producers and selling it to end users, such as mines, manufacturers or property developers. About 14 private companies hold electricity trading licences in SA.
Eskom has challenged several of these licences in court, arguing that Nersa may have acted prematurely before the legal and operational framework for trading is fully in place.
At the recent financial results presentation, Eskom group CEO Dan Marokane said that Eskom initially went to court after feeling it had no other avenue. After ministerial feedback, the company paused the legal process to allow Nersa to develop transition rules.
Marokane said Eskom was participating in the rule-making process but would not publicly comment on every detail. “Our views will be shaped by the ongoing process. The aim is to protect vulnerable consumers while implementing reforms,” he said.
The Electricity Regulation Amendment Act, passed in 2024, is a main part of SA’s electricity market reforms. It establishes an independent transmission system operator to manage an open-access grid and enable competitive trading between multiple buyers and sellers. The law also allows private companies to buy power directly from IPPs and supports government plans to add more renewable capacity by 2027.
The Discovery Green-Glencore partnership shows a shift in the mining sector: coal remains critical, but companies face pressure to lower emissions. Long-term power purchase agreements with independent renewable producers allow decarbonisation without disrupting operations.
As part of its broader strategy to engage in SA’s energy transition, Eskom has also established Eskom Green, a renewable energy subsidiary. The unit is designed to accelerate the utility’s participation in large-scale renewable projects while maintaining baseload power stability.
Marokane cautioned that removing major industrial customers from Eskom’s base would increase financial pressure on remaining users, particularly low-income households. “To balance affordability, market reforms must be based on clear rules so that all participants can compete fairly and reap the true benefits of competition,” he said.
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