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Port Elizabeth - A wind farm that will bring an estimated investment of R1bn to a poor community in the Kou-Kamma municipality in the Eastern Cape could deliver its first renewable energy to the national power grid by 2013.
The Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm is expected to produce 40MW and have about 20 wind turbines. Turbines with a capacity of 2MW and about 80m high are being planned, says Jeff Cheong, head of business development at wind-turbine manufacturer Vestas.
Wind measurements that will be taken next year on the Wittekleibosch farm, about 30km outside Humansdorp, will determine exactly how many turbines are required and their size, he explains.
The project developers are Watt Energy and the Exxaro mining company, helped by a consortium of Danish and local players. The black shareholding in the project will be 46%.
When it was announced on Monday, Mcebisi Msizi, chief executive of Watt Energy and chairperson of the Eastern Cape Community Wind Energy Development Association, said that the project was unique because it was the first wind-farm project in the country from which a poor community would benefit as the owner of the land.
If it proves successful, the project can be repeated elsewhere in communities where it is possible to generate wind power, Msizi observes.
Talks are under way with communities in Port Alfred, Hamburg and Coega regarding the use of their territory for wind farm projects.
- Sake24.com
For more business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.