Khobab Wind Farm, near Loeriesfontein, in the Northern Cape, has completed the lifting of the first of its 61 wind turbine generators ahead of schedule.
It is anticipated that the first power will be exported in the next three to four months and that the wind farm will start supplying electricity from all 61 turbines to the national grid by the end of this year.
The project was selected as a preferred bidder in the third round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
“This is a crucial point in the construction of the wind farm and even more pleasing is that we are not just ahead of schedule but also on budget,” project manager Kevin Foster said.
The wind turbines, which are 100 m tall to allow for optimum energy production, take up to three days to erect, weather dependent.
The three 53 m blades, made from fibreglass reinforced epoxy, are connected to the rotor at ground level before being lifted to the top of the turbine tower.
“This is a complicated lifting exercise, in which one crane raises the assembled rotor while another smaller crane and taglines guide the rotor into the correct position. The heaviest component is the nacelle, which contains the generator and gearbox and weighs 82.5 t.”
The site was chosen because of its excellent wind resource, its proximity to national roads for wind turbine transportation, the favourable construction conditions, support from the municipality and local stakeholders, the straightforward electrical connection into State-owned Eskom’s Helios substation 7 km south of the site.
When operating at full capacity, the wind farm will generate about 563 500 MWh/y of clean renewable energy.