Following fast on the recently announced connection to the grid of its 147 MW Karusa wind farm in the Laingsburg Municipality of the Western Cape, Enel Green Power South Africa has, in addition, connected the 147 MW Soetwater wind farm, which is located in the Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality in the Northern Cape.
The Soetwater plant has the capacity to generate 585 GWh per year, potentially averting the emission of some 600 000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere annually. Like the Karusa wind farm, the Soetwater facility features Vestas V136-4.2 MW wind turbines, the largest on the African continent to date.
The project was awarded to Enel Green Power in April 2013 as part of round four of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) and is supported by a 20-year power purchase agreement with the national energy utility, Eskom.
Soetwater brings the number of EGP RSA wind farms in operation up to seven. This includes Nojoli (88 MW), Oyster Bay (140 MW), Nxuba (140 MW), Gibson Bay (111 MW) Garob (140 MW) and Karusa (147 MW).
Collectively, the company now has 12 operational wind and solar projects in South Africa. With all projects now in operation, it has an overall installed capacity of 1.2 GW of renewable energy.
Manuele Battisti, the newly appointed Country Manager of EGP RSA, says construction of the Soetwater facility, which involves a 200-million-euro investment in South Africa, began in September 2019.
“The construction process was hampered at times by stop/start delays in response to Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions. The hard lockdown in 2020, in particular, resulted in difficulties relating to the movement of people between provinces, as well as travel for experts and commissioning teams from other parts of the world. This highlights, all the more, what a significant achievement this project completion is – for the project team and for the country,” he adds.
EGP RSA is committed to playing a key role in helping the country solve its energy crisis using renewable energy solutions. The company also supports local employment, among its own staff as well as in hiring local contractors during project construction, with the aim of promoting socio-economic and enterprise development. At the peak of the construction phase at Soetwater, 1 160 people were employed on the project.
In its approach of Creating Shared Value, EGP RSA has assisted underserved communities close to the wind farm in a number of ways.
- As part of an educational support programme, it installed 12 interactive smartboards for Roggeveld Primary School and Sutherland High School, both located in Sutherland, the closest town to the wind farm.
- To counteract the devastating impact of the nationwide lockdown on vulnerable communities, the company donated food relief parcels to about 200 families mainly women, children and the elderly. This was done in close consultation and with the support of the Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality.
- In partnership with local municipalities, EGP RSA donated close to 1.1 tonnes of wooden pallets to local community members and organisations. These are used for recreational, housing and educational purposes.
Additional projects such as community leadership training, youth skills development, a drug and substance abuse awareness campaign, further educational support to the Sutherland-based schools, equipment to upgrade the local sports facility and the provision of medical supplies for the only clinic in Sutherland have been earmarked for implementation during the third and fourth quarters of the company’s 2022/2023 financial year.
For more information visit: www.enelgreenpower.com/countries/africa/south-africa
