Siemens Gamesa has officially started production of Mainstream Renewable Power’s 110MW Perdekraal East and 140MW Kangnas wind farms in South Africa, supporting additional green power supply into the country’s national grid.
The Perdekraal East site is located 80km northeast of Ceres in the Western Cape and the Kangnas wind farm is situated near Springbok in the Northern Cape.
A company statement highlighted that the wind farms are equipped with a total of 109 2.3MW capacity onshore wind turbines and will help provide enough clean electricity to power a total of 250,000 South African homes. Additionally, the wind farms will emit zero carbon emissions using almost no water during the power generation process.
Despite COVID-19 challenges, the two projects have been completed in line with the original timeline set by Mainstream Renewable Power. Mainstream fully developed the projects, managed the construction process and will manage the operations and maintenance of the plants. The global developer of renewable energy is based in Dublin with offices in Cape Town.
Kangnas wind farm was even completed significantly ahead of schedule.
Both Perdekraal and Kangnas wind farms are part of the Bid Window 4 of the government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), and will together add to the 1.3GW to the country’s clean energy generation capacity.
In compliance with the REIPPPP regulations, the wind projects were built by the 30% black owned subsidiary of Siemens Gamesa in South Africa and, by its South African staff utilising South African contractors thereby creating jobs while supporting local communities, driving local manufacturing and development projects within local communities.
“Siemens Gamesa is taking a step forward in its mission to provide a cleaner, more sustainable future for South Africa in its journey to a low carbon economy, having contributed as of today with more than 850MW of wind capacity to the national grid. We are also proud to demonstrate our engagement towards improving living standards across the country, despite the disruption witnessed due to the COVID-19 lockdowns earlier this year,” said Janek Winand, managing director Siemens Gamesa South Africa.
Beyond the completion of its wind projects in the country, Siemens Gamesa remains committed to the local communities in need through several social actions led across the regions where it is operating.
Among these initiatives, the company helped provide relief to Tembisa residents suffering from the impact of the COVID19 crisis through the donation of vital supplies benefitting over 300 families. The team also supported recently the Witzenberg Association for Persons with Disabilities (WAPD) near the Perdekraal wind farm through the donation of a mobile daycare.
“As a responsible company, we are eager to assert further our contribution to South Africa’s increasing energy demand, but beyond that, we are strongly committed to providing continuous support through rapid responses to the challenges faced by the local communities in need, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic,” added Winand.
