Global Clean Energy Survey 2025
Mining and metals companies have traditionally been seen as power takers rather than energy makers, consuming large amounts of electricity and fuel to extract and process metals, minerals and materials at scale.
But, according to our 2025 Global Clean Energy Survey, that balance is shifting. Many mining companies are becoming significant generators of energy and are planning to ramp up investment in clean energy over the next financial year.
These results point to the acceleration of a trend that’s been underway for some time. Mining companies have been developing their own generating capacity, mostly through solar and wind farms of varying capacities, to supplement their electricity requirements.
Some enter into agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) to take a percentage of the power generated from locally based renewables projects, which are built and run by the IPPs. Others, although few in number, have built their own projects on site. In countries such as Australia, mining companies favor a build-to-rent model, where the renewables plant is installed and maintained by a contractor on behalf of the mining company. Building on site may be attractive due to the carbon offset credits the miner will receive versus funding renewables capacity elsewhere.
Forward-thinking mining and metals companies are using clean energy to diversify and build resilience in four key ways:
One factor driving this shift toward clean energy is the need to develop greater resilience to failures in power supply. In some countries where mining is concentrated, electricity grids are struggling to meet demand, resulting in load-shedding, power cuts and blackouts. The trend toward self-generation is particularly evident in South Africa following years of load-shedding by the state electricity supplier and subsequent changes in legislation around independent power generation.
Meanwhile, the threat of cyber-attacks and IT failures causing power outages is also growing. Clean energy can help to reduce these risks, although renewables are not a panacea due to their variability and the need for reliable baseload generation, particularly for resource-intensive activities such as smelting. Most mining companies that use renewables are doing so to supplement energy generation from sources such as coal, gas and diesel, rather than replace it.
As well as generating energy, the sector is at the forefront of contributing to the clean energy transition as a supplier. Many mining businesses are looking for ways to exploit this opportunity by expanding production of key minerals and metals, investing in new greenfield projects and diversifying their portfolios through mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
This activity is likely to intensify in the coming years with shortages of critical renewable energy materials such as copper. After 2025, the supply deficit is forecast to peak at 4.5 million tons, and copper prices may jump 20% by 2027 as the supply deficit rises.
Given the scale of the planned increases in clean energy investments indicated in our survey, it’s clear that miners have considered capital allocation to these projects.
The commercial opportunities that flow from this mining activity may also explain why:
Clean energy is a key tool in helping mining and metals companies achieve sustainability goals and contribute to reducing carbon in the atmosphere. The industry faces continued regulatory pressure to operate in a responsible manner, as well as growing public awareness of its impact on everything from climate to human health.
Often, mining companies face a negative perception of their environmental impact despite having a good record of change and improvement, as outlined by Jamie Strauss of Digbee in Willis’ Mining Risk Review 2023. Clean energy initiatives that can shift the dial, helping companies meet their environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments, manage their reputational risks and support local communities, are seen as investments worth making to maintain the industry’s license to operate over the long term.
Mining companies may find opportunities in emerging technologies such as carbon capture and storage, where end-of-life mines can be repurposed as carbon sinks. Some mining waste, for example, from nickel mines, can be used to accelerate carbon mineralization and capture and store CO2 in rock[3]. Though promising, this type of carbon capture technology is still developing and can only be used where the specific rock chemistry of the tailings enables it to react with carbon in the atmosphere and trap it.
These strategic developments could potentially create an alternative and complementary source of revenue, while also helping companies achieve negative net carbon emissions in the future. Earning carbon credits by developing carbon capture capacity is seen by miners as an incentive worthy of consideration.
Mining and metals companies can find it difficult to get appropriate cover for renewable energy assets or exposures.
While the insurance market has recently embraced positive ESG disclosures from its client base when it comes to risk acceptance, insurers in the mining and metals sector can be siloed and may be reluctant to embrace what they perceive as new and prototypical technologies. Clean energy generation is a departure from a typical mining risk profile.
Mining companies and their brokers need to challenge insurer biases to support a reduction in carbon intensity rather than punishing it. A first step is demystifying the technologies involved. While elements of clean energy technologies may be prototypical, projects as a whole include a blend of known and unknown risks. Distinguishing between what is known and what is unknown is critical in helping mining and metals companies articulate their risk and present better information to insurers to support negotiations on price and coverage.
To overcome these obstacles, and achieve better protection for changing risk profiles, mining and metals companies should:
It’s clear that mining and metals businesses are embracing the clean energy revolution, both as a business opportunity, and as a source of lower cost energy to power its operations. But there are challenges.
Mining companies depend heavily on cashflow to generate the money to spend on clean energy projects. A downturn in commodity prices can severely restrict this cashflow and therefore, the ability to invest.
Our survey shows that:
A wider societal reliance on renewables in developed economies may lead to an increase in the amount of load-shedding, combined with an increase in the cost of electricity due to the expanded maintenance requirements when coupled with those for traditional baseload power.
Heavy industry is likely to be negatively impacted in these countries, as energy-intensive downstream processing activities become uncompetitive in the global marketplace.
“We are already seeing a shift to offshoring of certain activities (due to rising energy costs) and governments looking to subsidize ‘strategic’ industry sectors. Therefore getting the balance right is fundamental for the ongoing viability for many mining and metals businesses.” William Fremlin Key, Global Head of Mining and Metals, Willis Natural Resources.
In the absence of a well-established green premium market for various metals, the increased cost of maintaining two generation mechanisms, along with high insurance premiums, could penalize and disincentivize clean energy investment.
When asked about the risk factors that could undermine their clean energy strategies, a large majority cited increasing global uncertainty and what this could mean for their supply chains.
These concerns were higher for mining and metals than other natural resources sectors.
Because mining firms rely on third parties to build and operate their clean energy generation projects, they are vulnerable to any disruption that affects the supply chains of those partners.
If the price of critical supplies increases, it may increase the cost of projects, reduce margins and limit the scope for clean energy investments. If trade tensions deepen further and supplies become not just costly, but unavailable, it could threaten overall viability[4].
Mining companies have huge potential to advance the energy transition, both as enablers of clean energy technologies through the metals and minerals they extract, and as generators of clean energy in their own right. But our survey suggests they may be held back by risk factors such as geopolitical disruption, technical issues, commodity price volatility and barriers to insurance.
Companies that take action and engage with sector-focused risk advisors and engineers can overcome these challenges, seize opportunities to build resilience and unlock a sustainable future. Insurance markets need to do more to enable this by keeping pace with innovation in clean energy technologies and supporting mining and metals companies as they diversify operations.
