Renewable energy developer Wind Prospect has announced its intention to open a South African office in Cape Town in October, which would service the whole of the African continent.

The office would provide wind resource assessment, undertake due diligence and development support services to developers, banks and financial institutions.

Since launching its developer services business in 2009, Wind Prospect has opened offices in emerging markets across Europe including most recently Turkey and Poland.

Wind Prospect said that it was already working on 11 contracts in Kenya and South Africa, representing 1,3 GW of potential capacity, and a major increase on the continent's installed capacity.

"Africa is set to become a major international market for renewables. South Africa in particular has huge coal reserves, but is making great progress to reduce its fossil fuel reliance and turn to alternative ways of generating energy," said Wind Prospect advisory services head David Groves.

The company added that as the market grows, Wind Prospect planned to offer additional services and open more offices across the continent.

Wind Prospect said that it has set its sights on becoming the number one service provider to the African wind market by 2012.

The UK-based company has been developing wind projects for more than 20 years, and has offices in ten countries worldwide.