The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has begun receiving firm electricity from a large solar-and-battery installation, marking a significant development in the use of privately financed renewable-energy infrastructure to support industrial production in Africa.
The facility, developed by CrossBoundary Energy for Kamoa Copper, entered commercial operation on 12 August 2026. It combines a 233 MWp solar photovoltaic installation with a 526 MWh battery energy-storage system and is designed to provide at least 30 MW of continuous, dispatchable electricity to the mining complex.
CrossBoundary Energy describes the project as Africa’s first operational solar-and-battery facility designed to provide baseload electricity at this scale. The company also says it was delivered in 16 months, from the signing of the power-purchase agreement in April 2025 to commercial operation. Those descriptions are claims by the developer and have not been independently verified.
The project is nevertheless significant in its own right. Rather than relying on solar generation only during daylight hours, the battery system allows electricity generated during periods of strong sunlight to be stored and subsequently dispatched when solar output falls. The arrangement is intended to provide a more predictable electricity supply to one of the DRC’s largest industrial operations.
The installation has a 30 MW guaranteed baseload supply and is designed for high annual availability, according to CrossBoundary Energy.
Kamoa-Kakula, located near Kolwezi in the mineral-rich Lualaba province, is operated through Kamoa Copper and is jointly owned by Ivanhoe Mines, Zijin Mining, the DRC government and Crystal River Global. Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin each hold an indirect 39.6% interest, the DRC government has a direct 20% stake and Crystal River holds 0.8%.
The scale of the mining operation places electricity reliability at the centre of its production strategy. Kamoa-Kakula produced 388,838 tonnes of copper in 2025 and generated approximately US$3.28 billion in annual revenue, according to Ivanhoe Mines. The company expects production to increase towards approximately 500,000 tonnes of copper a year from 2028, although the trajectory remains dependent on the mine’s development programme and operating conditions.
The complex has also moved further towards processing copper within the DRC. Its direct-to-blister smelter, which began producing copper anodes in December 2025, has a nameplate capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year. Ivanhoe reported in its second-quarter 2026 results that the smelter was operating at about 60% of design capacity, with the full 500,000-tonne annualised rate expected in 2028.
The expansion of electricity infrastructure is therefore occurring alongside a broader attempt to increase the value captured from copper production within the country. Processing more material close to the mine can reduce the volume of lower-value concentrate that needs to be transported over long distances, while the associated production of sulphuric acid provides an additional industrial input for mining operations elsewhere on the Copperbelt.
Electricity, however, remains a structural challenge for mining in the DRC. Kamoa-Kakula has historically depended heavily on hydropower, while instability in the electricity system has required the operation to maintain alternative sources of supply. Ivanhoe has previously reported that grid instability affected operations and that additional back-up generation was installed to improve continuity.
The new solar-and-storage installation does not eliminate those other sources. Its 30 MW firm contribution represents one component of a wider electricity system that includes hydropower and other sources. Its importance lies instead in adding predictable renewable generation to an industrial operation whose electricity requirements are expected to increase as production expands.
Ivanhoe has reported that the wider on-site solar programme is considerably larger than the first facility now in operation. The company has said that two privately funded solar projects are being developed with a combined 433 MWp of solar capacity and 1,107 MWh of battery storage. Once fully ramped up, the facilities are expected to provide 60 MW of continuous baseload electricity.
The longer-term plan is to increase Kamoa-Kakula’s on-site solar baseload capacity to 120 MW by the end of 2027. That expansion is intended to accompany the mine’s planned increase in copper production, which Ivanhoe’s updated technical assessment projects to exceed 500,000 tonnes annually from 2028.
The development also illustrates a wider shift in how large African mining projects are approaching energy security. Where national electricity networks are unable to expand at the same pace as industrial demand, mining companies and independent power producers are increasingly developing dedicated generation and storage capacity around major mineral projects.
That trend carries implications beyond the individual mine. Copper is a critical input for electricity networks, electric vehicles, data centres, telecommunications and renewable-energy infrastructure. The DRC’s position in the global copper and cobalt supply chain therefore gives its electricity infrastructure a significance that extends beyond the mining sector.
At the same time, the expansion of privately financed power infrastructure should not be interpreted as a substitute for investment in public electricity systems. Large industrial consumers can finance dedicated solutions that may not be available to households, smaller businesses or communities. The broader development question for the DRC is consequently how investment in mining-linked energy infrastructure can complement rather than deepen the separation between resource-intensive industrial enclaves and the wider electricity needs of the population.
For the DRC, the solar-and-storage project represents both an industrial response to an immediate constraint and part of a longer-term effort to strengthen the country’s role in copper production and processing. Its significance will ultimately depend not only on the volume of renewable electricity it delivers, but also on whether the investment contributes to a more resilient energy system and greater domestic economic value from the country’s mineral resources.
The project reflects an increasingly important reality across mineral-rich African economies: the energy transition is creating demand for the continent’s resources, but converting that opportunity into sustained development requires investment not only in mines, but also in power, processing, infrastructure and the institutions that connect these assets to broader national economies.
