Inside South African Wind - Enel Green Power starts a 111 MW wind farm

With a total installed capacity of 111 MW, the new wind farm, held by Gibson Bay Wind Farm (RF) Proprietary Limited, a company controlled by Enel Green Power RSA Proprietary Limited,  will be capable of generating around 420 GWh per year once fully operational. This output corresponds to the annual consumption needs of around 131,000 South African households, therefore avoiding the emission of over 383,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

EGP will be investing a total of approximately 190 million euros in the plant’s construction, which is in line with the growth targets set out in EGP’s current business plan. Gibson Bay wind farm is expected to enter into service in the first half of 2017.

In March 2015, Enel Green Power RSA Proprietary Limited, signed a loan agreement for a total of 2,100 million South African rand (equal to about 160 million euros) to be used to finance the investment in the Gibson Bay wind farm, with KfW IPEX-Bank, which is acting as lender, sole lead arranger and agent, with partial credit insurance coverage provided by Euler Hermes, the German Export Credit Agency.

The energy generated by the new wind farm will be sold to the South African utility Eskom in line with the 20-year power supply agreement that EGP was awarded with in October 2013 as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP)  promoted by the South African Government.

In South Africa, EGP owns and operates the Upington solar power plant, which has an installed capacity of 10 MW, and has begun the construction of the Tom Burke (66 MW), Paleisheuwel (82.5 MW) and Aurora (82.5 MW) solar power plants. The Company has just been awarded a further 425 MW of wind power projects in the fourth phase of REIPPPP.

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