Perdekraal East Wind Farm celebrates commercial operations
The 110 MW Perdekraal East Wind Farm, outside of the Western Cape province in South Africa, commenced commercial operations on 8 October 2020.
Image for illustration purposes
South Africa, West Cape, Witzenberg: The 110 MW Perdekraal East Wind Farm, outside of the Western Cape province in South Africa, commenced commercial operations on 8 October 2020.
This large-utility scale wind farm is set to make an impact on South Africa’s national grid, whilst continuing to grow the social resilience of the surrounding Witzenberg communities, noted a company statement.
In line with the renewable energy sector trend, which is working to meet the department of energy’s local content requirements, the wind farm achieved very high local content levels, exceeding 48 %.
This includes both locally manufactured turbine towers as well as the project’s mega transformer, helping to drive the demand for local manufacturers to offer items previously only available through import.
Perdekraal East Wind Farm began construction in July 2018 and is now ready to begin generating an estimate 368.8 GWh/year into the grid.
Perdekraal East Wind Farm forms part of the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REI4P) and was constructed by Siemens, Concor and Conco Consortium.
“South Africa’s renewables story is truly inspirational. We are transitioning towards a renewable future, which facilitates multiple opportunities for growth and development, within areas and communities that for decades have lacked infrastructure, investment and sustainable employment opportunities. It’s also a chance to work towards solving one of the most pressing challenges of our time; reducing the use of fossil fuels and the associated reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” concluded Glenn Hobson, construction project manager for Perdekraal Wind Farm.
Source: ESI Africa