Sibanye-Stillwater marks major milestone with Castle wind farm launch

Sibanye-Stillwater and its partners in the Castle consortium celebrated the significant milestone of the launch and commercial operation of its Castle wind farm project. The Castle is the largest private-offtake wind farm in operation in South Africa to date.

The Group’s renewable energy programme is a key lever for decarbonisation, given that 92% of Group emissions originate from the power utility Eskom. Sibanye-Stillwater has developed a targeted 600 megawatt (MW) pipeline of solar and wind projects which, combined with other energy management initiatives, will displace 30% of current Eskom supply with low-cost, renewable energy by 2027.

Sibanye-Stillwater said progress towards this target has been made through the construction of three wind and one solar project totalling 407MW of generation capacity that is expected to be in commercial operation by end of 2026. The four projects include the 89 MW capacity Castle wind farm, the 103 MW capacity Witberg wind farm the 140MW capacity Umsinde wind farm and the 75MW capacity Springbok solar photovoltaic project.

The renewable energy projects are being developed by independent power producers (IPPs) with Sibanye-Stillwater contracted to secure the offtake of the generated energy.

These projects are forecast to reduce Sibanye-Stillwater's annual emissions by roughly 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.

The cost of renewable energy is estimated to be at a 15-30% discount to Eskom tariffs, escalating at CPI. Located near De Aar in the Northern Cape, Castle is a facility dedicated to supplying renewable energy to Sibanye-Stillwater’s South African operations via a wheeling agreement with Eskom. Castle comprises 16 wind turbines with each turbine having the capacity to generate 6 MW of electricity in optimal conditions. Each turbine stands 100 metres from the ground to the centre of the hub height; the total height from the blade tip is 183 metres.

Sibanye-Stillwater said the Castle project has already harnessed gains for Sibanye-Stillwater by generating 56 GWh energy, avoiding 57 000 tCO2e emissions and saving R22 million for the South African region up to June 30, 2025 since the start of commercial operation at the end of March 2025.

Other benefits from Castle include 0.6% of revenue derived from the consortium managing the wind farm that will be invested in local community education, health, social-welfare and skills development programmes and initiatives.

Neal Froneman, the CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, said, “Through the development of large-scale solar and wind projects and innovative energy solutions, we are actively reducing our energy cost, reducing our emissions and strengthening energy security for the SA region. With this robust pipeline of projects in development, our 600 MW target will drive tangible progress toward a more sustainable and resilient energy future for the Group.”

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