The Castle wind farm is now fully into the construction phase. The announcement was made by investment company African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) following the financial close of the project. AIIM is developing the project through its renewable energy project development platform African Clean Energy Developments (ACED), in partnership with Reatile Renewables, a specialist renewable energy investment company.
The financing for the Castle wind farm was arranged by Rand Merchant Bank, a subsidiary of South African bank FirstRand Bank. AIIM declined to disclose the amount of the transaction. The 89 MW wind farm is being built near the town of De Aar, in the Northern Cape province.
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The farm will comprise 16 Goldwind 6 MW turbines and will be connected to the national grid via the Hydra main transmission station owned by state-owned Eskom. The electricity produced will be used to power Sibanye-Stillwater’s mining operations. The Johannesburg-based company, which specialises in gold mining and processing, has already signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Castle Wind Farm project company.
“This project marks our first major step in implementing our portfolio of over 550 MW of renewable projects and is an important milestone in our journey towards carbon neutrality by 2040. The project will not only play a key role in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change, but will also deliver Sibanye-Stillwater electricity savings and energy security for operations in South Africa,” says Neal Froneman, Sibanye-Stillwater’s Chief Executive Officer.
Jean Marie Takouleu