South African coal mining concern Seriti Resources announced Thursday it will build a 155 megawatt wind farm to supply power to its coal mines in the Mpumalanga Province, so it can keep mining coal to be burned for electricity at power plants across South Africa, Reuters reports.
South Africa’s grid has been strained by poor management and increased demand, forcing the company that mines the coal for electricity to come up with its own deeply ironic way to generate reliable power. “There are short-term solutions to alleviate some stages of [power outages], but the only long-term solution is new generation,” said Seriti’s renewable subsidiary CEO peter Venn.