Data on renewable energy investment in industry remain limited. Many of the efforts to decarbonise the sector have concentrated on energy efficiency and on carbon capture, utilisation and storage. Although no comprehensive datasets are available summarising investment in renewables in industry, examples of specific investments exist. They include investments in solar thermal heating, geothermal heat, and biomass technologies for industrial uses in the agro-food, pulp and paper, mining and steel industries.

In the food and tobacco industry, several noteworthy investments were made in solar thermal systems for process heat in 2023. In Spain, Europe's largest industrial heat plant – a 30 megawatts-thermal (MW_th) parabolic trough solar thermal plant, with a total investment of USD 22.5 million (EUR 21 million) – was inaugurated in Seville in September. ⁴³ The plant is the result of a 20-year heat purchase agreement between the Dutch beer company Heineken and the French energy giant Engie and was financed through a public-private partnership with the European Regional Development Fund, which provided a subsidy of USD 14.3 million (EUR 13.4 million). ⁴⁴

France's largest solar thermal plant for industrial processes, with a total investment of USD 6.4 million (EUR 6 million), was inaugurated in late 2023 with a 55% subsidy from the environment agency ADEME and additional financing from the Public Interest Group Objectif Meuse and the Grand Est Region Climaxio programme. ⁴⁵ The plant will provide the dairy company Lactalis Ingredients with heat for a drying tower. ⁴⁶

Also in the food industry, São Martinho in Brazil invested USD 50 million (BRL 250 million) to build its first biomethane plant, which will use the vinasse residue produced at an adjacent sugarcane facility to produce biogas that will be used to replace fossil diesel in the company's trucking fleet. ⁴⁷

In the pulp and paper industry, a paper and packaging manufacturer in Belgium commissioned a new concentrated solar thermal system combined with a thermal storage unit in Turnhout – the largest such facility in Europe – financed by Campina Energy, with support from the EU's Horizon programme and the Green Heat scheme. ⁴⁸ In New Zealand, the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry Fund contributed part of the USD 9.8 million (AUD 15 million) in total funding to help the tissue manufacturer Sorbent purchase geothermal steam from a local supplier for use in paper drying. ⁴⁹ In Kenya, early steps were taken to develop a geothermal field that will supply energy for industrial uses such as fertilisers, iron and steel, plastics, and pulp and paper. ⁵⁰

In the mining industry, Saudi Arabia's leading mining company, Ma'aden, announced plans to begin building the first gigawatt-scale solar heat plant in early 2024, which will provide steam for refining bauxite ore at an alumina refinery in the city of Ras al Khair. ⁵¹ In the United States, the mining company Rio Tinto partnered with Neste to transition all of the heavy machinery at its mine in Boron, California from fossil diesel to renewable diesel, although information on the total investment was unavailable. ⁵²

Rio Tinto also announced that it would replace its entire fossil diesel consumption at its Kennecott copper operation in Salt Lake City with renewable diesel starting in 2024. ⁵³ In Chile, the Chilean power utility Gasco is investing USD 71 million in industrial solar heat plants, in the framework of a 20-year heat purchase agreement to cover more than 80% of the heat demand of two copper mines, Minera Escondida and Spence, the remaining heat will be delivered by electric boilers powered by renewable electricity. ⁵⁴

In several sub-Saharan African countries, as of 2023, a number of mines had announced plans to transition towards solar PV-powered microgrids to enhance energy security and reduce costs. ⁵⁵ (See Snapshot: Sub-Saharan Africa.)

In the steel industry, a surge of investments in net zero technologies, which may include renewable energy use, have been announced in recent years. ⁵⁶ The Swedish company H2 Green Steel allocated an initial USD 3 billion for a new plant, set to begin production in 2024, that will use renewable hydrogen. ⁵⁷ In 2023, several wind-powered hydrogen projects were postponed. In Canada the World Energy GH2 project was delayed due to lagging hydrogen infrastructure, and projects in Europe were delayed due to regulatory restrictions. ⁵⁸ With a focus on India's steel industry, an innovative financing instrument titled Financing Steel Decarbonization was developed in 2022 to mobilise private finance for low-carbon technologies for decarbonising steel, which includes using renewables to meet the electricity requirements of steel production facilities, or to produce renewable hydrogen. ⁵⁹ Because investing in decarbonised steel neither lowers costs nor increases product quality, it is often motivated by the opportunity to capture incipient green steel markets and to avoid stranded assets in anticipation of more stringent climate policies. ⁶⁰

Additional investment in renewables occurred outside of these primary industries targeted for decarbonisation. In Cuernavaca, Mexico, Unilever announced a USD 446,000 (EUR 417,000) industrial solar steam project to support the manufacture of personal hygiene products, with construction to begin in 2024. ⁶¹ In the United Kingdom, the clean-tech company Sonichem secured USD 1.49 (EUR 1.4 million) to convert low-value forestry by-products (such as sugars, cellulose and lignin) to renewable biochemicals. ⁶²

Snapshot.SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Harnessing Solar Power to Transition the Region's Mining Sector

The mining sector is a leading economic driver in Sub-Saharan Africa, valued at more than USD 108 billion in 2023. For the region's 15 most mineral-rich countries, the sector accounted for 10% of GDP on average in 2021. In most of these countries, mining is the main source of foreign direct investment, accounting for up to half of all exports. However, it is also the most energy-intensive sector, consuming half of Sub-Saharan Africa's total electricity in 2022 (and even higher shares in countries such as Guinea, Mozambique and Sierra Leone).

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Harnessing Solar Power to Transition the Region's Mining Sector

The mining sector is a leading economic driver in Sub-Saharan Africa, valued at more than USD 108 billion in 2023. For the region's 15 most mineral-rich countries, the sector accounted for 10% of GDP on average in 2021. In most of these countries, mining is the main source of foreign direct investment, accounting for up to half of all exports. However, it is also the most energy-intensive sector, consuming half of Sub-Saharan Africa's total electricity in 2022 (and even higher shares in countries such as Guinea, Mozambique and Sierra Leone).

In many Sub-Saharan African countries, the electricity sector faces challenges due to fluctuating world oil prices and persistent droughts, resulting in insufficient generation capacity, rising energy tariffs and unreliable service. Rising energy prices greatly impact mining projects because energy accounts for a significant portion of mining projects' budgets, reaching 10-35% of mining expenses in the region in 2023. Furthermore, power shortages and disruptions impact the mining sector, which requires continuous energy supply for efficient operations, in several detrimental ways, including damaged equipment, reduced output and large financial losses.

Some mines in Sub-Saharan Africa are located in remote areas and must rely on diesel-generated power rather than being connected to national or regional electricity grids. This presents challenges due to volatile global diesel prices and the high cost of transporting this energy to remote locations.

As an alternative, mines are increasingly implementing hybrid microgrids, which combine solar PV with energy storage and operate independently from the state grid. This reduces their reliance on fossil fuels and limits their use of generators running on diesel or heavy fuel oil to supplying only back-up power. This reflects a larger trend across Sub-Saharan Africa of installing solar PV microgrids to reduce reliance on unstable national and regional grids and to avoid the high cost of diesel.

In 2023, the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania installed a 34 MW solar PV plant with an 18 MW battery system to supply 20% of total power needs. The project is operated by the Canadian-based mining company Kinross, while the renewable energy producer Voltalia collaborated with ABB for the systems integration and value chain support. Over the lifespan of the mine, the system will avoid an estimated 530,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and save 180 million litres of fuel.

Since 2018, the Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso has been powered by Africa's largest solar PV hybrid power plant, a 15 MW system comprising some 130,000 PV panels developed by the Finnish company, Wärtsilä. By optimising solar PV power, the mine has reduced its annual fuel consumption by 6 million litres and its CO₂ emissions by 18,500 tonnes per year.

In 2023, NextSource Materials announced the commissioning of a 2.69 MW solar plant at the Molo mine in Madagascar. The plant, which covers 1.3 hectares and comprises 4,902 PV panels, is accompanied by a 1.37 MWh battery and supported by a 3.1 MW back-up diesel generator. This hybrid set-up is designed to meet 100% of the mine's power needs during peak hours, with the solar PV supplying 35% of the overall electricity demand. The project will boost the mine's energy security by providing uninterrupted power, while cutting carbon emissions by 2,275 tonnes annually and contributing to national climate goals.

As of 2023, mining companies in South Africa had plans to spend a collective USD 3.8 billion on several major solar PV installations, with an estimated maximum total capacity of 3,900 MW. These installations include Sibanye-Stillwater's combined 175 MW of solar plants across multiple platinum mining sites, Anglo American Platinum's 100 MW project at its Mogalakwena mine, Gold Fields' 50 MW plant at South Deep Khanyisa gold mine, Harmony Gold's phased roll-out of 167 MW of solar plants (including three 10 MW plants) and Impala Platinum's 10 MW project at the Marula Platinum mine. As of 2023, only the solar plant at South Deep Khanyisa was operational, and all other projects were under construction, with planned completion dates during 2024-2025.

Source: See endnote 55 for this section.