Atlantis wind turbine tower manufacturing signals renewables industry’s recovery
Wind turbine tower sections for the 140 MW Kangnas Wind Farm, one of the Round 4 Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) projects, are being manufactured locally, at the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (SEZ), in the Western Cape.
Kangnas Wind Farm said in a statement this week that this signals the recovery of the SEZ that had been set up for green technologies, which according to Green Cape, has already attracted R680-million in green technology investments and has created over 300 jobs.
It is expected that the SEZ will attract a further R3.7-billion of investment by renewable energy and other manufacturers, and nearly 3 000 jobs are expected to be created by 2030 if these investments are realised.
Manufacturing industries, in particular, stand to benefit from wind farms that are currently being built in South Africa.
Two of these large power generating plants will be receiving their turbine tower sections from GRI, a Spanish wind tower manufacturer, which has invested R475-million to date, and was one of the first to see the benefits of establishing a factory at the Atlantis SEZ.
Even prior to designation of the SEZ, GRI had made the most of the City of Cape Town’s available infrastructure and rapid land release and approvals processes to secure their chosen ground.
GRI weathered the storm of the REIPPPP delays and were able to ramp up to full operations again after confirming contracts in the fourth bid window, which includes Kangnas Wind Farm and Perdekraal East Wind Farm.
“GRI’s South African wind tower company is 25% owned by local shareholders, while their 250 or so employees have benefited from skills transfer, some [receiving] training and experience in Spain and the US, and bringing their skills back to the community,” explained GreenCape SEZ project executive Francis Jackson.
The Atlantis Green Technology SEZ was a deliberate effort to create manufacturing, broadly in the green economy and with specific opportunities in renewables.
“Kangnas Wind Farm is the first REIPPPP project to receive towers manufactured by GRI, following the industry’s two-year impasse, with the manufacturer’s full capacity dedicated to these projects,” explained Kangnas Wind Farm construction project manager Manie Kotze.
Kangnas Wind Farm is situated in the Nama Khoi Municipal area, in the Northern Cape. This province is the recipient of the majority of Independent Power Producers from the latest bid window, green lighted almost a year ago.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation