An interesting trend is taking hold within the traditionally conservative and closed African mining industry: They’re discovering renewable energy.

While reducing electricity costs has become a major strategic goal for the Africa’s mines, most have not traditionally been considered sympathetic to renewable energy.

“They’re all very conservative, so when mines hear about solar or wind, their first reaction is ‘that’s variable that sounds risky, so if my existing system works why should I change,’” Peter Asmus, principal research analyst with Navigant Research told AFKInsider. “But that’s changing and there is a lot of interest now in mines, but it’s just starting to happen.” Since mining operations depend on steady electricity supply – in some cases running 24 hours, some experts see a boom in joining the two industries ahead for 2015.

Renewable investment by African mines expected to be between $600 million and $1.1 billion by 2016. A Dec. 3 study from Munich-based consulting firm THEnergy indicates that solar-diesel hybrid systems are a big part of that boom, as are the “distributed energy” mini-grid systems used to dispense the electricity from diesel generators throughout the mining sites.

According to figures released Dec. 22 from Navigant Research, worldwide investment in microgrid enabling technologies is expected to total more than $155 billion through 2023.

In fact, the role of renewables in solving mining energy challenges is gaining traction at major annual mining conferences in Senegal, DRC, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire and Mauritanian, which are including more and more sessions related to renewable energy.

To support this move towards renewables, the online platform Renewables and Mining launched a database in October that helps mining companies to hook up with renewable energy players already experienced in such projects. For renewable energy companies, the platform is a source of who the progressive thinkers are in the mining industry.

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