Golden Valley project powers up
● Cookhouse community wins big from area’s status as renewable energy hub
Cookhouse is cementing its position as an important renewable energy hub in the Eastern Cape with the completion of another wind farm project.
The Golden Valley Wind Energy Facility forms part of a broader R6.5bn investment in SA and the project will provide 477GWh of renewable energy, able to power about 120,000 households for a year.
This is a welcome development because there seems to be no imminent solution to the country’s power crisis, with load-shedding expected to continue being a regular occurrence as Eskom battles to meet the growing demand for electricity.
The project, run by BioTherm Energy, in partnership with Thebe Investment Corporation, is situated between Cookhouse and Bedford.
Construction began in July 2018.
The 48 wind turbines, each pushing out 2.5MW of electricity, started feeding power into the Eskom grid on Saturday.
Thebe Energy and Resources CEO Sunil Ramkillawan said the company was proud of the achievement in challenging circumstances.
“We are delighted that the Golden Valley project has achieved completion.
“Thebe’s investment, alongside BioTherm Energy, demonstrates a commitment to growing our portfolio of renewable energy assets and to contribute positively to our country, while also delivering on our mandate of ‘building communities’ to make a significant economic impact in SA,” he said.
Besides the Golden Valley wind farm, BioTherm Energy and Thebe are involved in the construction of three other sustainable energy projects in SA, including a 33MW wind farm in the Western Cape, as well as two solar power projects in the Northern Cape, totalling 132MW.
BioTherm Energy CEO Robert Skjodt said the company was also involved in projects as far afield as Kenya.
“Bringing four energy projects into operation in SA, over the last nine months, under challenging circumstances, has been a proud achievement for us,” Skjodt said.
“Our wind energy project, southwest of Nairobi, is already connected to the Kenyan national grid and energised, so we expect to have our current portfolio fully operational before the close of this quarter.”
The company’s renewable energy portfolio capacity would amount to almost 400MW once all its projects were complete.
The Golden Valley Wind Energy Facility is located about 5km from Cookhouse and covers 9,000 hectares of farm land.
It is connected to the grid through an on-site substation and a dedicated 132kV power line to the Kopleegte substation.
Since breaking ground, the project created 500 jobs, mainly in the Blue Crane Route municipality.
Skjodt said communities in the area would continue to benefit from the project for years to come.
“These communities will also continue to benefit from economic development programmes running alongside the wind farm for its 20-year operations period.
“The main focus will be on education, skills development, health care and local enterprise development.
“This will be done by partnering with local stakeholders and community members.
“Golden Valley has committed a percentage of revenue earned to the community in the form of socioeconomic and enterprise development investments.
“We are also in the process of establishing a community trust, which will belong to the community,” he said.
“Through these initiatives, we are deeply committed to investing in areas of real need and which result in long-term sustainable impact in our communities.”
Wind farm projects have been at the heart of development in the Blue Crane Route municipality for more than a decade, including the Cookhouse Wind Farm that created 375 jobs in the community during the construction of the 66 wind turbines completed in 2014.