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    Sandfire–Release Motheo solar plant: power strategy insights for mine planners

    February 12, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    Sandfire–Release Motheo solar plant: power strategy insights for mine planners

    First reported on International Mining – News

    30 Second Briefing

    Release has signed a seven-year leasing agreement with Tshukudu Metals Botswana, a Sandfire Resources subsidiary, to deploy a 21 MW solar power plant at the Motheo Copper Operations in Botswana. The modular plant will supply a significant share of Motheo’s process power demand, cutting diesel generation and exposure to regional grid constraints. For mine planners and process engineers, the deal signals further integration of long-term, contract-based renewable capacity into African copper operations’ power strategies.

    Technical Brief

    • Modular solar units from Release can be redeployed or resized as Motheo’s mine plan evolves.
    • Leasing model shifts performance, availability and O&M risk for the PV plant largely onto Release.
    • Rapid-deployment modular design reduces construction time and interface risk with existing Motheo infrastructure.
    • For other African copper mines, similar leasing structures offer a template to de-risk renewable integration.

    Our Take

    Botswana’s push to diversify beyond diamonds, highlighted in the 10 Feb 2026 piece on the country’s exposure to a diamond slump, makes Sandfire Resources’ Motheo Copper Operations and its 21 MW solar plant a strategically important non-diamond industrial anchor in the country.

    Within our copper-tagged coverage, relatively few African projects combine fully owned operating subsidiaries, as with Sandfire’s 100% ownership of Tshukudu Metals Botswana, and embedded renewable generation, signalling a tighter operational and ESG control model than many JV-based regional peers.

    Solar integration at a copper asset in Botswana positions Motheo competitively on power costs versus diesel-heavy operations in similar climates, which is likely to matter as energy transition minerals like copper face increasing scrutiny over both carbon intensity and operating margins.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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