NextSource Materials announces that commissioning of the Company’s Molo Graphite Mine in Madagascar has been initiated and the installation of the solar and battery facility for the hybrid power plant is in progress.
The hybrid power plant consists of a thermal generation facility, which is already in operation, and a solar and battery facility, consisting of a 2.6MW solar PV facility and a 1MWh battery energy storage system. The thermal facility currently supplies all of the plant’s power requirement, and once completed, the solar and battery facility will provide up to 33% of the mine’s total electricity needs using renewable energy.
President and CEO, Craig Scherba, commented:
“Commissioning of the Molo Graphite Mine is a testament to the hard work and perseverance of our employees and contractors who have brought this project from design through to implementation in the midst of a global pandemic and shifting geopolitical landscape. That hard work has placed the Company in an enviable position as it transitions into a global graphite producer at a time when graphite consumption is increasing dramatically due to the explosive growth in demand for lithium-ion batteries.
NextSource is taking advantage of this tremendous market opportunity by creating a substantive niche for itself within the global lithium-ion battery supply chain through the commissioning of its first graphite mine and planned construction of its first Battery Anode Facility.”
On February 28, 2023, the Company announced its global Battery Anode Facility (BAF) expansion strategy and the results of a technical study for its first BAF (BAF1) located in Mauritius. Mauritius was selected due to its close proximity to the Company’s Molo Graphite Mine in Madagascar and its position on strategic shipping routes to key markets. Front-end engineering and design and environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) permitting is now in progress, and the Company is in active discussions with strategic offtake partners and debt and equity financiers who have expressed an interest in funding the BAF1 construction.