In South Africa, renewable energy latest part of timber industry’s green efforts

York Timber Holdings has signed a 10-year agreement with electricity trader Discovery Green to supply renewable power to its Jessievale sawmill, pushing the mill's renewable electricity share to roughly 90%. The deal is a 'wheeling' arrangement: power still arrives over existing grid infrastructure, while Discovery Green coordinates equivalent renewable generation fed in elsewhere by solar and wind producers.

Company officials frame the move as reducing both emissions and exposure to South Africa's rising carbon tax and tariff hikes. Discovery Green says more than 50 companies now buy electricity this way, calling such agreements critical to unlocking new energy infrastructure investment.

Independent forestry researchers note the agreement addresses only processing emissions, not the sustainability of the plantations themselves — water stewardship, biodiversity, and harvesting practices remain separate, larger questions. They also called for independently verified emissions and biodiversity data from the industry, which was not offered here.

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