All systems go for wind farms
SOUTH Africa’s greatest single expanse of wind farms, Loeriesfontein Wind Farm and Khobab Wind Farm, situated in the Northern Cape, has commenced their 20 year commercial operations which will power 240 000 homes.
This milestone was achieved “on schedule, on budget and without a single lost-time incident”.
With a generation capacity of 140 megawatts each, these two neighbouring wind farms combined make up the largest single expanse of wind turbines in the country.
Situated in the Northern Cape, which has the highest volume of renewable energy utility power plants in the country, these sister wind farms comprise a total of 122 wind turbine generators, spanning 6 653 hectares.
According the Premier of the Northern Cape, Sylvia Lucas, “REIPPPP is a priority programme for the Province and proves to be a game changer.
“This is a sector that can assist government to radically transform the economy. To date, over 60 percent of South Africa’s Independent Power Producers have been allocated to the Northern Cape.
“We also take pride in the fact that, as a Province we not only play host to solar farms, but currently we are home to the second highest number of wind farms in the country.
“Through this we are able to attract local and foreign investment to, not only the Province, but the country at large. The attraction of these investments places us at the forefront of the Renewable Energy Industry,” Lucas said.
“Worth noting is the fact that through these investments, the Province has secured a substantial share of the equity for local communities with benefits materialising over the project life.
“We are therefore pleased at the jobs that have been created and would like to encourage a process where the development and the needs of our people are handled as a parallel process.
“We are convinced that by working together, we are able to make a further impact on the job creation front,” Lucas added.
Collectively the wind farms will power roughly 240 000 South African households.
“This is a key milestone for Lekela and its partners. We are pleased to have added over a million megawatt hours of clean, renewable energy to the country’s national grid, avoiding an estimated 22 million tonnes of carbon emissions over the lifespan of the projects, when compared to traditional fossil fuel power plants,” Chis Antonopoulos, Chief Executive Officer of Lekela, said.
“These two wind farms achieved over two million man hours of construction activity without a single lost-time-incident during their construction period.
“Considering the sheer scale of these power projects, the multiple level of activities and the complexities involved in building these very large wind farms, it is an impressive achievement for our construction team,” Kevin Foster, Country Construction Manager for Mainstream Renewable Power, added.
The two wind farms were developed by Mainstream Renewable Power which also managed the construction process and will oversee the operations and maintenance of the plants.
Loeriesfontein Wind Farm and Khobab Wind Farm have a combined value of approximately R7 billion and are owned by a consortium led by Lekela Power, which is dedicated to providing clean, renewable energy to the people of South Africa.