The Witberg wind farm, located between Touws River and Laingsburg in South Africa’s Western Cape, will represent a further step forward for the country in strengthening power supply and addressing the energy shortfall. The wind farm, which will be the largest private facility of its kind built to date in South Africa, will supply renewable energy to the equivalent of powering more than 122 500 homes in the region and will prevent the emission of about 420 792 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Sarens handled the transport of components for the 24 wind turbines at the Witberg wind farm.
As a world leader in heavy lifting, engineered transport and crane rental services, Sarens has contributed to the development of this strategic project for the South African energy sector. On behalf of logistics provider Kuehne+Nagel, Sarens worked on the transport of the components for the 24 wind turbines that make up the wind farm. With a combined weight of more than 391 tonnes these were divided into 216 loads. For the project, 18 transport combinations were used, together with 36 private escort vehicles to transport the main components from the Saldanha Laydown Area and the tower sections from the GRI tower factory in Atlantis.
The Sarens engineering team had to take into account a steep incline at the entrance to the site: considering the weight of the loads, this meant an 8x8 truck had to be used to pull the components, as a normal 8x6 truck with ballast would not have been sufficient. In addition, to facilitate the movement of the blades, each over 66 metres long, it was necessary to use a gyro table provided by the component manufacturer.
The new wind farm, due to come into operation in the first quarter of 2026, will have 24 V136 4.5 MW turbines manufactured by Vestas, a nominal power capacity of 108 MW and a contracted power capacity of 103 MW. Developed by Sibanye-Stillwater and operated by Red Rocket Energy, this facility will have a significant impact on both direct and indirect job creation in the region, as well as on the reliability of the energy grid.
Sarens has over 25 years of experience in the lifting, transportation and installation of onshore wind turbines across all types of terrain. With a portfolio spanning more than 7 000 wind turbine installations in over 40 countries, it has helped deliver more than 25.000 MW of installed wind capacity worldwide. From high-altitude mountain sites to remote desert and coastal locations, Sarens continues to support wind energy developers with reliable heavy lifting solutions. Sarens Siba (Pty) Ltd, based in Johannesburg, represents Sarens in South Africa.
For more information visit: https://www.sarens.com/
