Construction of Karusa and Soetwater wind farms in South Africa has commenced. Italy’s Enel SpA made the announcement and said that its renewable subsidiary Enel Green Power RSA (EGP RSA) has initiated the works.
The wind farm projects are both located in South Africa’s Karoo Hoogland District, Northern Cape province and will involve an investment of US $223m each. The two plants will have an installed capacity of 140MW each.
State-of-the-art tools
According to Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of Enel Green Power, the project developers will utilise state-of-the-art tools and practices such as advanced digital platforms and software solutions that will monitor and remotely support all site activities to perform quality controls on site and smart tracking of wind turbine components.
“These processes and tools are aimed at enabling swifter, more accurate and reliable data collection, improving the quality of construction and facilitating communication between on-site and off-site teams,” said CEO Antonio.
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Project agreement
Additionally, the company will also employ local staff as well as hire local contractors during the construction process, with the aim to promote meaningful socio-economic and enterprise development. The wind farms will be supported by a 20-year power supply agreement with the South African energy utility Eskom, in line with the Government’s Independent Power Producer (IPP) programme.
“We are showing the same determination when it comes to innovation and sustainability, as all of our plants are being built through state-of-the-art technology and sustainable construction practices, while creating local employment and income opportunities,” said Mr Cammisecra. Construction of the two plants are expected to be complete by the end of 2021.
Once fully operational, Karusa and Soetwater are each expected to generate over 585GWh annually, each avoiding the annual emission of around 611,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
