South Africa is the 25th largest state in the world by land area. Wind power in South Africa is at present supplying over 960 MW to the power grid and solar energy has a sum of over 2,292MW solar photovoltaic capability. The following list is a rundown of the top ten wind Farms in South Africa.
Longyuan Mulilo De Aar2 North Wind
Longyuan Mulilo De Aar2 North Wind farm is the largest wind farm in South Africa. It is a 144MW wind scheme situated near De Aar, in the Northern Cape. The project was also part of the 3rd round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. The facility has 96 turbines and was completed in 2013. It was developed, owned and operated by Longyuan Mulilo Consortium.
Khobab Wind Farm
Located in the Hantam Municipal region, 60km north of Loeriesfontein in the Northern Cape, Khobab Wind Farm sits on 3,453 hectares of agricultural land and includes sixty-one 99m-high wind turbines.
When running at full gear, the 140MW Khobab Wind Farm produces around 563,500 MWh/year of clean renewable energy annually and is set to supply electricity to around 170 000 South African homes. The wind farm was developed by Mainstream Renewable Power having 61 turbines. It became fully operational in 2018.
Loeriesfontein 2
The 140MW Loeriesfontein 2 is located in the Hantam Municipality of South Africa’s Northern Cape and was tendered under the third round of the REIPPPP.
The plant includes 61 of the Siemens SWT-2.3-108 wind turbines which are also used at the Khobab wind farms, with a total output of 140 megawatts. The facility was completed in 2017 by Mainstream Renewable Power.
Roggeveld wind farm
Located in the Western Cape, Roggeveld is currently the wind farm with the lowest ever electricity tariff to have achieved financial close in South Africa. This was attributed by G7 renewable energies many years of design fine-tuning and related optimisations.
On 4th April 2018, Roggeveld signed the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and later after reached Financial Close on 13 April 2018. 3 years after being granted the Bidder, the Roggeveld Wind Farm scheme was first to sign the PPA amongst the 27 bid window winners of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) from the government. The 147 MW Roggeveld Wind Farm in the Karoo, developed by G7 and later by Building Energy (Red Rocket), is anticipated to become the most efficient wind farm in the Southern Africa.
Oyster Bay Wind Power
This is an operational 140 MW (190,000 hp) wind power facility developed and owned by Enel Green Power. The energy produced from the wind facility is sold to the South African national electricity utility company Eskom, under a power purchase agreement (PPA) of 20 years. The facility has 41 turbines with power rating of 3.6MW per turbine.
Read also: EDF to construct 3 wind farms in South Africa
Cookhouse Wind Farm
It is situated on a high ridge of the Great Fish River in the Eastern Cape.
The Adelaide, Cookhouse Bedford, and Somerset East communities in the Eastern Cape are benefited by the socio-economic development programs from the wind farm, which are designed to strengthen and empower the communities. The facility was completed in 2014 with 66 turbines. The much-needed green energy of over 340 000 MWh is fed into the country’s national grid annually.
Gouda Wind Farm
The 138MW wind farm is located in the outskirts of the town of Gouda in the Western Cape province.
The scheme had a total cost of R2.7 billion (US$199 million) and came online in September 2015 with 46 turbines each with power capacity of 3MW. It was the largest wind-farm in the Western Cape during its completion. It has the ability to power 200 000 households annually or 400 gigawatt hours of electricity. The power produced from Gouda Wind Farm is estimated to avoid the emission of 406 million metric tons of CO2 annually of equivalent power generated from a coal fired power facility. The ownership in partnership between Aveng, the South African renewable energy and Acciona Energia, a Spanish renewable energy and engineering firm.
Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm
Wind Farm site is between Humansdorp and Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape, spanning 3700 hectares.
The site’s relatively flat topography, optimal wind conditions, close proximity to the 132kV Eskom grid line and minimal environmental constraints make it an ideal wind energy resource. Arising from the REIPPPP, the Wind Farm agreed on a 20-year Power Purchase with Eskom together with an Implementation Agreement with the Department of Energy. It was in mid-2014 when the scheme reached Commercial Operations, having begun construction in 2012 December. The wind farm has 60 turbines each with power capacity of 2.3 MW, able to produce 460 000 MWh annually.
Kangnas Wind Power
The Kangnas Wind Power Station is a 137 MW (190,000 hp) operational wind power facility in Northern Cape in South Africa. The power plant with 61 turbines was developed and owned by a group of international IPPs and financiers. The plant started its commercial operations in November 2020. The energy produced from wind farm is sold to Eskom, the South African national electricity utility company, under power purchase agreement (PPA) of 20 years.
Amakhala Emoyeni
Amakhala Emoyeni, is a phrase in Xhosa meaning “aloes in the wind.” The 134MW wind farm is situated in Eastern Cape, near the town of Bedford. Windlab secured the land and started the development in 2009.
The environmental authorisation was offered in 2011 for the larger. Windlab partnered with Cennergi (a joint venture between Exxaro and Tata Power) later in the same year and successfully bid the scheme into South Africa’s renewable energy program. It started commercial operations in 2016. The facility has 56 turbines.