Cleaner-energy provider closer to supplying energy to national grid

28th June 2013

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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Several of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP) projects achieved financial closure between May and June, including those of cleaner energy company Cennergi’s two wind farm power projects.

These projects, in the Eastern Cape, are the Amakhala Emoyeni Wind Farm (AEWF), near the town of Bedford, and the Tsitsikamma Commmunity Wind Farm (TCWF), on amaMfengu community land.

“The company has signed its power purchase agreements and implementation agreements with the Department of Energy (DoE), National Treasury and State-owned power utility Eskom, thereby formalising the financial closure of our two, round-two wind farm projects, which fulfil the DoE’s REIPPPP requirements,” Cennergi CEO Thomas Garner informs Engineering News.

The DoE hosted the signing of the financial close of the documents for the preferred bidder of the renewable energy projects at its project office, in Centurion, last month.

“The two wind projects, once fully operational, will have a capacity of  229 MW of power. Significant financial, infrastructural and skills development will also be made available to the communities of Bedford, Cookhouse and Tsitsikamma, in the Eastern Cape,” asserts Garner.

He says initial geotechnical site work at the AEWF project will begin next month, as geotechnical surveying first needs to be undertaken to confirm soil conditions.

Construction for the project is scheduled to begin in June 2014, while the commercial operation of the project will be in June 2016.

TCWF site foundation work was undertaken late last year and construction at the site is scheduled to begin in September 2014. The wind farm is scheduled to be commercially operational by March 2016.

The AEWF project will have a capacity of 134 MW. Fifty-six turbines, each with a 80 m hub height and 2.4 MW capacity, will be supplied and installed on site by German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex.

The TCWF project, which is being developed in cooperation with Cennergi, local renewable-energy development company Watt Energy and the Tsitsikamma Development Trust, will have an installed capacity of 95.3 MW. 31 Vestas turbines of 3 MW each and 94 m hub-height will be used on this site.

“Electricity generated from these wind farms equates to about 300 GWh/y for the TCWF project and about 400 GWh/y for the AEWF project. These outputs are based on research the company has undertaken over the past three years,” says Garner.

Cennergi will erect 87 wind towers across the two sites, which will be manufactured at the Coega Industrial Development Zone by wind tower manufacturer DCD Energy.

During the construction phase, Cennergi will remain involved as the owner of the projects to ensure all work is carried out on time, according to specification and within budget, he emphasises.

“Cennergi is fortunate to have two large shareholders, South African mining group Exxaro Resources and Indian power company Tata Power, which are willing to fund the company, even though they understand the risks associated with new projects. Both shareholders have contributed not only financially but are also integrally involved in the projects,” states Garner.

Benefits

“Job expectations from the communities in which Cennergi is developing its wind farms are high. Between the two projects, Garner expects that about 250 jobs will be created during the construction phase. “Once the wind farms are operational they will create about 40 direct operational permanent jobs between them,”  he says.

However, Garner stresses that the REIPPPP will create many more job opportunities overall through its local content requirements and the local construction of wind turbines and photovoltaic cells in the long term.

Over time, with the development of the renewable-energy industry in South Africa, the country will hopefully be able to export the locally manufactured renewable-energy technologies worldwide.

Bedford community member and project coordinator for the Thembani Special Day Care Centre & Bedford Projects Dr Lana-Lorraine Blom says, as a Bedford community member, the financial close means that the start of the construction phase of the AEWF project will begin soon, which will create job opportunities and skills development programmes for the community.

"Making these investments in the renewable-energy field today will stand the country in good stead for future generations and will create not only sustainable electricity sources but also job opportunities and skills development,” Garner concludes.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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