Juwi Renewable Energy recently won the tender for the construction of the 140MW Garob wind farm located in the Northern Cape. This project comes in the fourth round of Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) by the Department of Energy in South Africa.
Upon completion of construction of the Garob wind farm, 46 wind turbines will be accommodated and will be able to stand 162m tall from the ground to the turbine blades. This will enable the export of 140MW in maximum.
According to the MD of Juwi, Greg Austin, the Garob wind farm will help generate electricity for use by 60 000 homes in the region plus additional users who depend on the current 86MW produced out of Prieska in the Northern Cape.
Financial close for the project is expected to be met during the first quarter of 2016 before construction work officially begins in the second quarter of the same year.
During the first stages of securing the rights to development, a met mast was installed to help record the meteorological conditions necessary for the accurate development of the wind farm.
Juwi recently approached Enel Green Power (EGP) an Italian firm and negotiated a deal whereby EPG would be the sole owners once the project is named a preferred bidder.
The project which was submitted to DoE will see to it that 60 percent of equity for the plant goes to EGP, 30 percent goes to Khana Group while 10 percent will be owned by the local community trust of Garob.
