11 Feb 2021 13:34
Press Release 11 February 2021
PJSC Polyus
Polyus switches 90% of its energy consumption to renewables
PJSC Polyus (LSE, MOEX: PLZL) ("Polyus", the "Company") announces that an agreement for the supply of environmentally friendly electricity generated by the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant to Polyus' Krasnoyarsk Business Unit ("KBU") has been signed with PJSC RusHydro, a major Russian hydroelectricity supplier. The agreement assumes the provision of approximately 1 billion kWh of energy to KBU in 2021.
Once supplies under this contract commence, 100% of the electricity consumed by Polyus' largest producing assets, Olimpiada and Blagodatnoye, will be renewable. Based on this estimate, KBU expects to reduce greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions in 2021 by almost half, while company-wide GHG emissions may decrease by a third compared to the previous year. As a result, up to 90% of the electricity demand of the Company's operating assets will now be met by renewable sources.
The agreement will cover the period until December 31, 2021, with the possibility of an extension.
In 2020, Polyus and RusHydro signed a five-year bilateral agreement for the sale and purchase of electricity produced by hydroelectric power plants on the territory of a technologically isolated electric power system in the Magadan region. The volume of electricity supplied under this agreement is greater than 300 million kWh per year.
Pavel Grachev, Chief Executive Officer of PJSC Polyus, commented
"This deal marks the transition of Polyus' core business unit to renewable energy sources and represents a landmark event for our company. Climate change is a global challenge, and it is important that as a responsible business we support the decarbonization of the global economy. For this reason, we are choosing to power our production assets with energy sources that will minimize our greenhouse gas emissions."
Viktor Khmarin, Chairman of the Management Board and General Director of PJSC RusHydro, commented:
"For RusHydro, the signing of this agreement is testament to the high demand for environmentally friendly renewable electricity generated by our hydropower plants. We are witnessing growing interest for supply contracts for energy generated at our HPPs from industrial companies aiming to decarbonize their production, and we will ramp up our work in this area in order to achieve common goals on mutually beneficial terms."
Polyus
Polyus is the world's fourth-largest gold mining company by production volumes and one of two gold miners with the largest attributable gold reserves. The company demonstrates the lowest production costs among major global gold producers. Its principal operations are located in Siberia and the Russian Far East: Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Magadan regions and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
Rushydro
RusHydro is one of Russia's largest energy producers in terms of installed capacity, with a total of over 400 power generating facilities. RusHydro is the largest in the country and the fourth largest globally, as well as the leading producer of energy from renewable sources in Russia. The total installed capacity of Rushydro's power plants, including the Boguchanskaya HPP, is 38 GW.
Enquiries
Investor and Media contact
Victor Drozdov, Director
Communications & Investor Relations (CIR) Department
+7 (495) 641 33 77
drozdovvi@polyus.com