← Back to all solar projects

B2Gold Otjikoto Mine Solar SADC cross-border

High confidence operational Last researched: 2026-06-26

Sources

• SPS Africa — B2Gold Otjikoto 10 MW solar wheeling solution (2024)
• SolarQuarter — Namibia commissions first solar wheeling project under national grid framework (2025-10-25)
• pv magazine — B2Gold building 10 MW of solar at Namibian mining site (2024-08-14)
• Engineering News — SPS, B2Gold launch first solar wheeling project under Namibia's MSB programme (2025-09-30)

Research notes

From the original pasted directory; captive mine generation. Not independently verified in this research round. CONFIRMED EXISTS via 4 independent sources. The seed (10.1 MW, SPS Africa, developer-confirmed) maps to the NEW 10 MW "Maxwell Solar Plant" wheeling project — NOT the older on-mine plant. Capacity: sources consistently say 10 MW (AC implied); seed's "10.1 MW" is a minor rounding discrepancy — using 10 MW. DC nameplate not published (mw_dc=null). Annual generation ~26,360 MWh; ~N$200 million investment. DEVELOPER CONFIRMED: Sustainable Power Solutions (SPS), with partners the Oelofse family and Fortitude; B2Gold Namibia is a co-investor and the offtaker. This refutes the prior "low confidence / not independently verified" seed note — it is now well verified. REGULATORY: Private solar wheeling under NamPower's Modified Single Buyer (MSB) programme — billed as Namibia's FIRST such wheeling project. Energy injected at NamPower's Eldorado substation (not behind-the-meter); transmitted to the Otjikoto mine via the grid. 8-year PPA aligned with mine life. STATUS/DATES: Reported under construction Aug 2024 (pv magazine) with expected commissioning end-2024; formally launched Sept 2025 and reported commissioned/operational by Oct 2025 (SolarQuarter, Engineering News). Set commissioning=2025, construction_start=2024 (approx). Financial close date not published. LOCATION: Maxwell Farm, ~50 km north of Otjiwarongo (Otjozondjupa region), ~20 km from the Otjikoto Gold Mine. No exact solar-array coordinate published; geo pin is approximate. STORAGE: No BESS currently installed; battery storage mentioned only as a possible future expansion (storage mw/mwh = null). IMPORTANT DISTINCTION — there is ALSO a SEPARATE earlier solar plant at the same Otjikoto mine: a 7 MW (DC) / 5.8 MW (AC) PV plant commissioned April/May 2018, EPC by Caterpillar (Cat Microgrid Solutions) / Barloworld, ~US$8.5m, hybridised with the mine's HFO power station and located on-site behind the meter. That older plant is a different asset from this wheeling project. If the directory intends the captive on-mine plant rather than the wheeling project, the figures change to 7 MWdc/5.8 MWac, EPC=Caterpillar, 2018, captive (not wheeling). Given the seed (SPS, 10.1 MW, 'captive mine generation') the best match is the 10 MW SPS wheeling project, though note the seed's 'captive' label is slightly imprecise — it is technically grid-wheeled, not behind-the-meter captive. EPC confidence 'suspected': Fortitude handled engineering/value-engineering/QC and SPS is the developer; no source uses the literal title 'EPC contractor' for the 10 MW project, so left at suspected. VERIFY: Existence, capacity, developer, owner, offtaker and regulatory route INDEPENDENTLY CORROBORATED by 6+ sources (pv magazine, Engineering News, SolarQuarter, Green Building Africa, HOPSOL, SPS). 10 MWac/10 MWp Maxwell Solar Plant; commissioned 27 March 2025; developer SPS (Sustainable Power Solutions); offtaker B2Gold Otjikoto Gold Mine under an 8-year wheeling PPA via NamPower's Modified Single Buyer (MSB) programme — Namibia's first solar wheeling project; power injected at Eldorado substation (grid-wheeled, NOT behind-the-meter). Investors: SPS, B2Gold Namibia, the Oelofse family (own Maxwell Farm), and Fortitude. This well-verified record SUPERSEDES the prior 'not independently verified' seed note. REFUTED FIELDS: (1) EPC=Fortitude is INCORRECT — actual PV construction contractor was HOPSOL Africa under SPS management; Fortitude is an investor/project-management partner, not the builder. Drop the Fortitude-as-EPC claim (SPS is the developer/EPC-of-record; HOPSOL = construction). (2) geo coordinate (-20.95, 16.8) sits SOUTH of Otjiwarongo whereas all sources place the site NORTH (50 km most sources / 75 km per HOPSOL); coordinate is a guess and directionally wrong — drop it. mw_dc remains null (no DC nameplate published). Note the seed's 'captive' framing is imprecise (wheeled, not captive) and a separate 2018 Caterpillar-built 7 MWdc/5.8 MWac captive on-mine plant exists as a distinct asset. CONFLICTS: EPC attribution is wrong: overlay names Fortitude as the EPC (engineering/value-engineering/QC), but the actual construction contractor was HOPSOL Africa, working under SPS project management (hopsol.com, confirmed: 'This project was managed by SPS, with our team responsible for the construction works'). Fortitude is an investor/project-management partner, NOT the builder. SPS is developer-EPC-of-record; HOPSOL did the PV construction. ; Geo coordinate (-20.95, 16.8) is placed SOUTH of Otjiwarongo (lat -20.46), but every source states the plant is NORTH of Otjiwarongo. The pin contradicts the directional description and is self-described as an approximate guess with no published exact coordinate. ; Distance-from-Otjiwarongo conflicts across sources: most say ~50 km north; HOPSOL (the actual builder) says ~75 km north. Reinforces that the exact site location is uncertain. ; mw_dc is null and no DC nameplate is published anywhere; sources give 10 MWac / 10 MWp only. AC and peak are treated as ~equal; do not assert a DC figure. ; Seed label 'captive mine generation' is imprecise — this is grid-wheeled power injected at NamPower's Eldorado substation under the MSB programme, NOT behind-the-meter captive. (A SEPARATE 7 MWdc / 5.8 MWac Caterpillar-built captive plant, 2018, exists on-site and is a different asset.) ; financial_close date not published (single unresolved gap, left blank — acceptable).

Planning intel compiled from open-source data — not a tender document. Suggest a correction or add missing info →