WIND TURBINES The 134.4 MW plant will consist of 56 N117/2400 Nordex turbines and will have a capacity factor of 35%
Cleaner energy company Cennergi’s Amakhala Emoyeni Wind Farm, in the Eastern Cape, is set for commercial operation in June 2016, with the first shipment of wind turbines having arrived in May at Coega Bay, in Port Elizabeth.
Original project developer wind energy development company Windlab chose the name Amakhala Emoyeni, which means aloes in the wind.
Cennergi CEO Thomas Garner tells Engineering News that the project costs about R3.9-billion.
The 134.4 MW plant will consist of 56 N117/ 2400 Nordex turbines and will have a capacity factor of 35%.
Garner says this is the first project in South Africa to use the Nordex N117/2400 turbines, which have been specially developed for low-wind sites.
Low-bed trucks, which can only carry one turbine blade at a time, will deliver the turbines to the wind farm in more than 500 trips at 60 km/h from Coega Bay.
The turbines are being erected on site and, once operational, will generate maximum power between 14:00 and 21:00.
“The successful delivery of the wind farm will foster the initial ambitions of Cennergi towards being a cleaner energy company. “The wind farm will also solidify our in-house project execution ability in delivering world-class wind facilities on time, on budget and with the highest regard for safety,” says Garner.
He adds that the wind farm will launch the company’s footprint in the renewables sector in South Africa as it becomes a revenue-generating business.
Cennergi has undertaken two wind projects in South Africa, with Amakhala Emoyeni under full construction and that of a fourth wind farm beginning construction.