The Noupoort wind farm, in the Northern Cape, broke ground this month and the project is expected to enter commercial operation by mid-2016.

The wind farm is one of the first to start construction as part of the third round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. The wind farm is located in an area with good wind resources and is 11 km from State-owned power utility Eskom’s 132 kV overhead line; on completion, the 80 MW wind farm will comprise 35 wind turbines.

The wind farm is expected to feed about 305 000 MWh of clean, renewable energy into the national grid each year. When operating at full capacity, it is expected to supply enough green electricity to power about 70 000 average South African homes and prevent roughly 300 000 t of carbon emissions each year, compared with traditional fossil fuel power plants.

The turbines will be supplied by multinational company Siemens Wind Power and the 99 m turbine towers will be the first to be manufactured at the new Gestamp wind turbine tower factory, in Atlantis, in the Western Cape. The blades, hubs and nacelles that compose the wind turbines will arrive from the Port of Ngqura, in Coega, outside Nelson Mandela Bay. The delivery of these turbines is due to start in October.

The economy of the community of Umsobomvu, where the Noupoort wind farm is located, will experience considerable upside, says Noupoort wind farm project manager Martina Flanagan.

“In previous years, commercial activity in Noupoort was heavily dependent on railway activity. After demand on the rail network decreased, the town suffered from a significant decline in local business, leading to increasingly difficult socioeconomic conditions for the local community,” she says.

Already, 162 locals are working on the roads, electrical works and foundations for the wind turbines, and a number of foundations have been laid to date. Employment of people from the local community will continue throughout the construction period, Flanagan points out.