KGHM with permits to build its own photovoltaic installations

KGHM has received three building permits from the Głogów district head for a complex of photovoltaic farm projects with a total installed capacity of 7.5 MW. The investment project is planned to be carried out on land owned by the Głogów Copper Smelter, a division of KGHM.

The project includes three photovoltaic farm projects, i.e. PV HM Głogów I, PV HM Głogów II, and PV HM Głogów III, located on the industrial sites of the Głogów copper Smelter. They will be built in the immediate vicinity of consumer installations, including the existing MV transformer stations, to which the new projects are planned to be connected.

“Investment in photovoltaic farms is becoming a strategic component of KGHM’s development plans. Today’s world requires us, as industry leaders, not only to produce efficiently, but also to be environmentally responsible. We know full well that copper is a key raw material for the world’s energy transition. By introducing photovoltaic farms into our structure of production asset, we are diversifying the way KGHM generates electricity, reducing costs and hedging against market volatility in the power sector. We invest in projects that are beneficial today as well as in the long term,” said Tomasz Zdzikot, the CEO of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A.

“The placement of new photovoltaic farms directly on the premises of a KGHM division is an excellent example of the performance of RES investment projects using the huge potential of real estate owned by KGHM. This implementation formula for RES projects provides additional economic benefits associated with the target mode of operation of RES generation sources planned to be connected to KGHM’s power grid. What I mean is working in a self-production mode. The electricity produced by the PV installations will be consumed entirely by KGHM,” added Mateusz Wodejko, the Vice President of KGHM’s Management Board for Finance.

The complex of photovoltaic farm projects in Głogów is being developed under the supervision of KGHM’s Renewable Energy Department, in close cooperation with the Głogów Copper Smelter division.

Other RES projects planned for implementation on real estate owned by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. are in the project preparation phase. The total planned installed capacity of the project portfolio at present is more than 200 MW.

KGHM’s strategic goal related to energy transition by 2030 is to cover at least 50% of its electricity needs from its own sources, including Renewable Energy Sources. The copper industry leader is systematically taking steps to achieve these goals, by, among other things, acquiring RES projects from the market (as part of the M&A activity) and through the preparation and planned construction of its own RES installations.

Thanks to its own energy sources, KGHM was able to cover nearly 17% of the company's overall demand for electricity this year. In September 2023, KGHM bought a portfolio of eight photovoltaic plants, with a total capacity of nearly 50 MW. The farms purchased by the company are located in the Dolnośląskie, Łódzkie, Pomorskie, and Wielkopolskie Provinces. The purchased installations will provide approximately 2% of KGHM’s electricity needs.