Construction of a 900 MW Mpumalanga wind farm, South Africa’s largest of its kind, is about to start in the heart of the country’s coal industry.
The project will begin with the implementation of its first phase which has a proposed capacity of 155 MW. This is after Seriti Green and Seriti Resources signed a power purchase agreement for this phase. The PPA has a 20-year underpin.
The first phase of the 900 MW Mpumalanga wind farm which spans around 27,000 ha of farmland, will come online in 2025. Over the next three years, construction on the remaining 745 MW also will begin.
According to Peter Venn, CEO of Seriti Green and formerly MD of Windlab, the company expects the turbines to be able to run at a capacity factor of 40%. This implies that it will outperform Eskom’s nearby Tutuka power station which runs at an energy availability factor of less than 20%.
Noteworthy, the 900 MW Mpumalanga wind farm will feature 800 MWh of battery storage.
Mpumalanga wind farm to contribute to Seriti Resources’ carbon neutralization
In a bid to diversify its green energy, Seriti Resources, one of the major coal suppliers to Eskom, through its subsidiary, Seriti Green, finalized an R892 million deal in December 2022. This deal led to the acquisition of the majority of the 4 GW portfolio of wind power and solar power assets owned by Windlab Africa.
The company revealed that the majority of the projects would be in South Africa, especially in Mpumalanga which is already home to many of the company’s coal assets. Even though there is a lot of doubt regarding investing in wind power in Mpumalanga, Venn believes that the Mpumalanga wind farm project will be fruitful.
