A Danish-South African joint venture is set to produce a new wind atlas of the country, determining the wind resource available for wind energy generation.

The South African government has a target of producing 10 000 GWh of elec- tricity from renewable sources by 2013, wind energy included.

“Determining the wind resource accurately is important, and difficult,” says Risø Wind Consult National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy manager Jens Carsten Hansen.

“If the wind speed differs just 5% from one location to the other, there is a 15% difference in the income generated for the same investment,” he explains.

“The wind is here; we (any wind farm operators) get our money back – hopefully, more than we invested.”

Risø forms part of the Technical University of Denmark, and is the world’s largest wind energy research association.

About 20% of Denmark’s electricity demand is generated by wind, and the country is eager to expand its already burgeoning wind energy export sector to Africa – with competitors from other countries also waiting in the wings.

An annual average wind speed of 6m/s to 7m/s is required to make wind energy generation at wind farms possible.

Hansen says South Africa compiled wind atlases in 1995 and 2001 but adds that technology has improved signifi- cantly since then and that “we can do more now”.

Using new mapping technologies, Risø has, for example, found a large wind resource next to the Nile, in Egypt, where “nobody knew it existed”, says Hansen.

“The Egyptian government is now verifying this resource.”

The Department of Minerals and Energy’s South Africa Wind Energy Programme (Sawep) project manager André Otto says the country’s existing atlases cannot assist industry in compiling bankable wind energy projects for the country.

Sawep is contributing R5-million to the wind atlas project, with the Danish embassy providing R20-million.

Sawep is a government programme aiming to increase South Africa’s use of wind energy.

“South Africa can generate 64 000 GWh from wind.

“This is not a Mickey Mouse thing, and can contribute substantially to South Africa’s energy mix,” says Otto.

The new wind atlas project will specifi- cally target the Western Cape, as well as areas of the Northern and Eastern Cape.

Hansen says the funding for the project has been approved, and that the “project starts now”.

The first version of the atlas should be available in 2010.

Otto notes that Sawep is investigating the possibility of drawing up a wind industry development programme, similar to the Motor Industry Development Programme, which has stimulated the vehicle manufacturing industry into increased production and exports since its inception in the 1990s.

“There is no reason why we cannot also look into industrial development in this sector.

“We are working with the Department of Trade and Industry on this matter – especially on downstream opportunities.”

South Africa currently has two wind farms, one operated by power utility Eskom (3,2 MW), and one by private investors (5,2 MW).

The aim is to grow private investment to 45 MW, and for Eskom to possibly take its investment to 100 MW.

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