South Africa - Electrawinds to build wind farm with 25 wind turbines of 2,3 MW

Belgium-based renewable energy company Electrawinds and the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) announced the construction of 25 wind turbines, each 150 metres tall, which will produce enough power for 100000 homes.

The wind farm project would see about 25 wind turbines, of 2,3 MW each, being built in the Coega IDZ. Energy Minister Dipuo Peters recently said that South Africa seeks to commission 400 MW of wind power by independent power producers within the next three years.

The wind farm will achieve “global firsts”, promised Electrawinds business development director Jan Dewulf. “A key part of the plan is that World Cup matches played at the new stadium will be the first in history powered by renewable energy, as the first wind turbine will be up and running in time for the start of the event,” Dewulf said.

“The Coega project will be the first of its scale on the African continent. It will also be the first wind turbine farm built and managed by Electrawinds outside of Europe.”

Talks between the company and soccer governing body Fifa for the completed turbine to power the stadium during next year’s tournament – Electrawinds will offset the stadium’s power usage by feeding the same amount of electricity into the local power grid – are under way.

The company has built several similar wind farms in Belgium, Italy and France. The Electrawinds project will create several hundred jobs during construction of the masts and infrastructure installation. Dewulf and fellow executives promised as much as possible would be sourced locally.

According to Dewulf, the first turbine would be up and running by around May next year while the remaining 24 would come on line by mid-2011.

The site for the wind farm is within the IDZ, on the slopes of a ridge on the inland side of the N2 highway. Further tests on the wind speeds reached at the site have been scheduled.

With previous environmental impact assessments (EIAs) having been completed for the area, CDC and Electrawinds officials said they expected the wind farm EIA to be approved without hitches.

The PE Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Percci) said it would stimulate investment in “green energy” projects in the region.

“This will also have a huge impact from an economic point of view,” said president Alfred da Costa. “Percci has always driven the need to create a greener society. I’m sure this will stimulate more investments of this nature.”

While the project is the first of its kind for the region, the Bay municipality is also moving ahead with plans to build another wind farm.

Studies are already being carried out by SRK Consulting on sites at Driftsands, Bushy Park and the Van Stadens River, near Blue Horizon Bay.

This wind farm would consist of at least 10 giant turbines, each 135m in height.

For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net