Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A., formerly Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica S.A. and Grupo Auxiliar Metalúrgico S.A., has announced that it has completed the installation of the first of 17 turbines for the Ghoubet wind power plant, the first of its kind in Djibouti.
The construction works began in August 2020 with the mobilization onsite of teams from Siemens Gamesa (the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor), Djibouti Red Sea Power (the client), and Tractebel (the owner’s engineer responsible for the design review and construction management of the project).
The project reached the first major milestone with the pouring of the first turbine foundation on March 28, 2021.
Project overview
Developed by a consortium that includes Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), FMO (Dutch Development Bank), Climate Investor One (CIO), and Great Horn Investment Holdings (GHIH), the project includes the construction of 17 Siemens Gamesa G132 wind turbine generators with a unitary power of 3.465 MW, for a total capacity of 58.9 MW.
The turbines are being installed/constructed on an approximately 395-hectare site located approximately one Kilometer west of Lake Ghoubet, where the RN9 and RN10 roads intersect, in the Arta Region.
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A 230kV overhead transmission line, approximately 3.5 km in length, will be constructed as part of the project to connect the wind farm substation to a planned Ghoubet substation (not funded as part of this project) and the national grid system.
Expectations for the project
This project will foster industrialization in the African country by reducing the reliance on other high-cost or unstable sources of power generation, and it will also support the region’s emphasis on green energy with lower emissions.
According to Siemens, the future Ghoubet wind power plant will almost double the electricity production capacity currently installed in the country, and at the same time reduce the cost of electricity, achieve energy independence and reduce the country’s CO 2 emissions.
