Internationally recognised manufacturing and engineering company DCD Group was presented with the Distinguished Contribution to the Advancement of Local Content in Wind Energy award by nonprofit wind industry representative, the South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea), in September, for its continued efforts and contributions towards promoting localisation in the energy sector.

Sawea members, who are local and international entities active in the wind energy supply chain, collaboratively promote the sustainable use of commercial wind energy in South Africa. The association presented the award to the group at the Windaba gala dinner, hosted in Cape Town, in recognition of its new Wind Towers subsidiary.

The R300-million, 23 000 m2 wind tower manufacturing faci-lity is a joint initiative between DCD Group, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), which manages the Coega industrial development zone (IDZ). The manufacturing facility was specifically established in the Coega IDZ to support the localisation of wind tower manufacturing in South Africa.

“The company is immensely proud to receive this award in recognition of its contribution towards localisation through the establishment of the Wind Towers division and through our continued commitment to creating an official local-content threshold, which is exceptionally important to the industry,” says DCD Group MD Rob King.

He adds that the partnership between the group, the IDC and the CDC is evidence of a combined effort to provide sustainability and growth for the local renewable-energy sector. “When completed, the facility is expected to create almost 200 jobs and produce between 120 to 150 wind towers a year.”

Sawea board member Dipolelo Elford praised DCD Group for its continued efforts towards creating sustainable local- content thresholds in the wind energy sector. “I would like to extend my congratulations to DCD Group for taking the bold step of estab- lishing a wind tower manufacturing plant in South Africa, which proves that the company is committed to localisation,” he comments.

In addition to stimulating the local economy, King highlights that localisation in the wind energy sector also creates new skills and sustainable employment. “Localisation, particularly in the construction of wind farms, also creates jobs in secondary industries, thereby contributing to measurable socioeconomic development. What’s more, a successful localisation programme can serve as a platform for the South African wind energy sector to achieve exponential growth across the African continent,” he says.

Meanwhile, DCD Group energy sector marketing manager Hendrik Schoeman says construction of the factory started in March and is scheduled for completion in December. Manufacturing of the first sections of wind towers are scheduled to start in January 2014.

“The negotiations with the original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of the wind turbines that will be used in rounds 2 and 3 of the wind energy projects of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme began about a year ago. The group’s factory has been established to manufacture wind towers to the specifications of all the OEMs involved in the wind power projects. The company first secured the rights to manufacture Vestas Wind Systems’ wind towers and will also manufacture Nordex’s wind towers,” he notes.

Schoeman adds that DCD Group will finalise negotiations with the preferred bidders of Round 3, which was announced on October 29, for the right to manufacture the OEM wind towers that will be used for these projects.

“The type of wind farm and the wind data of the area in which the wind farm is located determines the type of wind turbine and the size of tower to be used; these towers can vary from three to five sections depending on requirements,” he explains.

Schoeman says once the factory starts producing at capacity and the South African government’s Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff programme is in progress, DCD Group will aim to export wind towers to the rest of Africa.

Schoeman adds that getting wind farms connected to the national grid represents another challenge. “If there is no grid connection available at the wind farms, Eskom will need to upgrade its transmission lines to enable the wind farms to provide electr-icity for the national grid,” he concludes.