The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) formally inaugurated the Kamoa-Kakula solar and battery complex in Lualaba province on October 16, several weeks after the facilities began supplying electricity to one of Africa’s largest copper mining operations. The country’s electricity regulator valued the project at $522mn.
Minister of Water Resources and Electricity Aimé Molendo Sakombi presided over the ceremony near Kolwezi, according to the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ARE).
The two installations combine 433 megawatts (MW) of peak solar generating capacity, rounded to 430 MW by the regulator, with 1,107 megawatt-hours (MWh) of battery storage, enabling them to supply the mine with 60 MW of continuous power, according to Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF).
CrossBoundary Energy’s facility began supplying 30 MW in August 2026, and Green World Energie added another 30 MW in September. Both were operating at full capacity by September 23, Ivanhoe confirmed on October 8.
The project was developed through agreements between Kamoa Copper and private energy investors CrossBoundary Energy and Green World Energie, which finance, own and operate the facilities. Kamoa Copper purchases the electricity under long-term power purchase agreements.
Kamoa-Kakula is jointly owned by Ivanhoe Mines and China’s Zijin Mining (SSE: 601899; HKEX: 2899), each holding an indirect 39.6% stake. The DRC government owns 20%, with privately held Crystal River controlling the remaining 0.8%.
Construction began in June 2025. According to Ivanhoe Mines, the completed installations constitute Africa’s largest hybrid solar photovoltaic and battery storage system at a mining operation.
The project is intended to reduce Kamoa-Kakula’s dependence on diesel generators and unreliable grid electricity, both of which have increased operating costs and complicated production planning.
Kamoa-Kakula’s on-site smelter, which has a nameplate capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year of copper anodes and began producing anodes in December 2025, has added another energy-intensive stage to production at the complex. Ivanhoe said in January that Kamoa-Kakula had installed a 60 MW uninterruptible power supply system and expected its dedicated solar facility to come online in the second quarter of 2026.
See IntelliNews: Ivanhoe Mines begins copper anode production at Kamoa-Kakula smelter in DRC
Ivanhoe reported that diesel consumption by its on-site generators fell by approximately 40% in September compared with July as the solar facilities reached full capacity.
ARE director-general Soraya Aziz Moto said the project demonstrated the DRC’s capacity to attract private electricity investment through regulatory certainty. The authority said it had supported the development by reviewing contractual arrangements, technical compliance, grid connections and electricity tariffs.
Power shortages remain a wider constraint across the DRC’s Copperbelt, where the structural electricity deficit exceeds 1 GW, according to Gridworks, a wholly owned subsidiary of British International Investment, the UK government’s development finance institution. Gridworks signed a framework agreement on October 6 to become the lead equity investor in a planned $300mn, 200-kilometre transmission line linking Kalumbila in northwestern Zambia with Kolwezi. The line would allow the DRC to import up to 550 MW. No financial close or construction start date has been announced.
Trafigura’s DRC head Hervé Otschudi told Reuters on October 7 that industry studies suggested miners could save about $1bn a year by replacing diesel-generated electricity with imported power. The commodity trader has agreed to arrange a significant portion of the line’s debt financing.
See IntelliNews: Gridworks signs framework to lead equity in $300mn Zambia-DRC power link
See IntelliNews: Trafigura says $300mn DRC-Zambia power link could cut miners’ annual costs by $1bn
Kamoa-Kakula is preparing an expansion that would add another 60 MW of continuous solar and battery-backed electricity supply, raising the total to 120 MW.
Ivanhoe said in October that two additional power purchase agreements, each covering 30 MW of continuous supply, had been signed with Green World Energie in April 2026 and Lualaba Solar Company in August. The company aims to complete the expansion within 18 months.
The additional supply is intended to reduce diesel consumption further as Kamoa-Kakula expands copper production and smelting operations in the southern DRC.
Ivanhoe’s updated mine plan, published in April, envisages raising Kamoa-Kakula’s copper output to more than 500,000 tonnes a year from 2028.
See IntelliNews: Ivanhoe targets 500,000t copper output at DRC mine Kamoa-Kakula by 2028