“The Jeffreys Bay wind farm is an inspiration and a significant example of how people co-exist with the nature,” says the Chief of the Khoi Sun community, Chief Williams, when conducting a ritual blessing of the soil, at the farm soon to be installed with sixty of the Siemens 2.3 wind turbines to generate some 138 megawatts of clean power, on Monday 04 February, 2013. The wind farm is one of the first for round one of South Africa’s government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Procurement Producers Programme (REIPPP) driven by the Energy Ministry.

Speaking at the ceremony, head of Siemens Wind Power for Europe, Middle-East and Africa, Jan Kjaersgaard, said, Jeffreys Bay is one of South Africa’s attractions for surfers because of its excellent windy conditions which create huge waves. “In the near future, it will add to its list of attractions the Siemens wind turbines scheduled to start arriving in South Africa in the third quarter of 2013, and to generate electricity by the end of 2014. We are very please to part of these very important milestone in the history of electricity generation in this country,” adding that Siemens has been a key partner in Africa for over 150 years.

Eddie O’Connor, Chief Executive of Mainstream Renewable Power, said; “This is a great milestone for South Africa’s burgeoning renewable energy industry. Mainstream together with its partner Genesis Eco-Energy is particularly pleased today after developing this wind farm since 2009. South Africa is endowed with an extraordinary wind and solar resource and Mainstream is developing over 4000 MW of wind and solar projects in the country to harness these free sources of power. We commend the government of South Africa for providing the right framework to establish this new industry and we look forward to continuing our long-term goal of bringing real and sustainable social and economic benefits to South Africa.”

Declaring the opening of construction of the Jeffreys Bay wind farm, MEC of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, for Eastern Cape, Jonas Mcebisi, said; “As government we are proud of this partnership with the private sector which places our country and the communities on the map. “Not only does the project bring economic and social prosperity in the Eastern Cape Province, but also makes us become part of the electricity producers. In the past Eastern Cape only consumed electricity,” Mcebisi said.

During the construction period Jeffreys Bay wind farm is expected to generate approximately 200 jobs. The jobs will vary from month to month depending on the various construction stages on the site. More indirect jobs will be created or sustained at the local manufacturers and suppliers, which brings hope for the people. The Siemens contract for the wind farm includes the servicing of the turbines for a 10 year period.