Enel Green Power has just kicked off construction work on its two wind farms in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The first plant will be located in Karusa and the second in Soetwater. Enel has entrusted the construction of these installations to Vestas Wind Systems, a Danish company.
For each of the two wind farms, Vestas will build 36 wind turbines, all of which will be 82 m high. All the turbines driven by wind power will produce 140 MW. The two wind farms will thus be able to supply 280 MW of cumulative power. Vestas will also provide maintenance. “In parallel with the launch of the construction of Karusa and Soetwater, we are currently running five other wind projects in South Africa, with an installed capacity of around 700 MW,” said Antonio Cammisecra, President and CEO of Enel Green Power.
REIPPP projects
Enel Green Power has obtained both concessions under the South African Renewable Energy Supply Programme (REIPPP). It is a government-initiated programme designed to encourage PPIs to invest in South Africa. As a result, Enel has been awarded several other contracts in Nxuba, Oyster Bay and Garob. Development and installation work is in progress.
For the Karusa and Soetwater wind farms, “during the construction phase, Enel should use advanced tools and practices such as digital platforms and advanced software solutions that will remotely monitor and support all site activities and commissioning of the facility, digital tools for on-site quality control and intelligent monitoring of turbine components,” says Enel.
The electricity generated by the two wind farms will be sold to the South African public company Eskom under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA). Enel plans to commission both installations in 2021 and at the delivery stage, it will have invested 200 million euros. The Karusa and Soetwater wind farms will reduce CO2 emissions by 611,000 tonnes per year.
Jean Marie Takouleu