PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Gulf Manganese has signed a five-year power purchase agreement with national power provider PT PLN Wilayah for the supply of 20 MVA power to the Kupang smelting hub facility, in Indonesia.
Gulf told shareholders on Monday that as a premium customer, the company was guaranteed power supply during a load-shedding event, which was a critical component in maintaining consistent operations during power reduction.
The two parties have also agreed on the minimum hours of electricity use per month, based on a minimum payment of 40 hours a month in the first two years of operation, and a minimum of 200 hours a month for the remaining three years of operation.
Gulf has also agreed not to build its own power generator, so long as PT PLN can provide the required amount of electricity to the Kupang facility.
The Kupang smelting hub is expected to contain at least eight furnaces built in stages over five years. At full production, the project will purchase and process 320 000 t/y of manganese ore, producing some 155 000 t/y of premium-quality ferromanganese alloy.