Wind energy wafts into SA's power grid from west coast

South Africa's first wind farm in Hopewell has started generating electrical power. Image: Link South Africa

The Hopefield wind farm will generate enough electricity to power about 70‚000 low-income or 29‚000 medium-income homes‚ it said.

The government‚ in its newly released Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for Electricity 2010-2030‚ plans for a reduced demand for wind energy‚ from 9‚200MW to 4‚360MW‚ just as it cuts projected national capacity requirements between now and 2030 by 6‚600MW. It also moots a delay on a decision on a new nuclear building programme.

Comment on the plan closed last week‚ and it may be adapted in line with comments received.

Umoya Energy claimed the wind farm was the first in South Africa to achieve its commercial operation date‚ but South African Wind Energy Association's chief executive Johan van den Berg could not confirm this. He said it was certainly one of the first.

"I know the majority of the first phase (of wind farms) are very close to commissioning. The first round was about 650MW spread over seven to eight projects‚" he said.

Umoya Energy was awarded a power purchase agreement in the first round of the Department of Energy's renewable energy independent power producer programme‚ now in its third round of deal-making.

Wind has proven to be the cheapest form of new electricity generation in South Africa‚ averaging R0.74/kWh in the independent power producer programme's third bid "window". The first projects have been concluded on time‚ within budget‚ which cannot be said for the much larger and more complex projects aimed at delivering power from traditional coal.

Van den Berg said there was a large incentive to keep to budget and time constraints because wind-farm operators could not change the sale price negotiated‚ so they could not pass any budget extensions on to consumers.

The R1.45bn Umoya project was financed by Rand Merchant Bank‚ with equity provided by the Africa Infrastructure Investment Fund‚ the Kagiso Infrastructure Empowerment Fund and Old Mutual's Infrastructural‚ Developmental and Environmental Assets Managed Fund.