Wind project developer Gestamp Wind has been awarded a 102 MW wind project in Copperton, in the Northern Cape, with a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Construction is expected to begin early next year.

Gestamp Wind country manager Carlos Rodriguez Tortosa tells Engineering News that the R2-billion project will consist of 34 wind turbine generators (WTGs), each with a 3 MW capacity.

The wind farm will include a 132 kV substation that will connect directly to a 132 kV distribution line, owned by State-owned power utility Eskom.

The expected load factor of the project is 39% and the maximum load will occur during the winter months. The start-up date for the operation is scheduled for between late 2017 and the first quarter of 2018.

The project will include local civil and electrical constructors, as well as service providers such as construction management and logistics. Steel towers for the WTGs will be manufactured in South Africa and the remaining components will be imported.

“With every month that passes, we can see more wind farms and photovoltaic plants connecting and injecting power into the grid, and most of them do so within the expected timeframe, which means the implementation of the REIPPPP is an absolute success,” says Tortosa.

Gestamp Wind CEO Dionisio Fernández says this second PPA in South Africa has reinforced his belief in wind farm development in international markets.

The company has a further 785 MW under development in several locations in South Africa that will be submitted in future public tenders issued by government.

Tortosa adds that the company saw an opportunity in South Africa to develop wind farms and contribute to the balance of the power generation mix.

The core business of Gestamp Wind is to develop and expand in countries with good potential for wind technology, and South Africa has good wind resources and a reliable legal framework to carry out these investments, he says.

“We have no doubt that we will deliver power to the grid within the expected timeframe, as we have done with the Noblesfontein wind farm, [in the Nothern Cape,] a 75 MW wind project awarded in Round 1 that we put into operation in July 2014. We will also contribute [towards alleviating] the electricity supply shortage,” Tortosa states.