Wind power in South Africa: Nordex wind turbines for a 80 MW wind farm

Nordex Energy South Africa has successfully completed a second Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape. The Kouga Wind Farm has been connected to the National Electricity Grid, supplying 80MW of green energy.

 

Kouga Wind Farm, which was one of the first projects selected in round one of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Program (REIPP), consists of 32x N90/2500 Nordex Wind Turbines on 80m high towers with an installed capacity of 80 MW and an expected annual energy output of 335 GWh.

Anne Henschel, Managing Director of Nordex South Africa says, “We are extremely proud of this accomplishment as it was a complex logistics process, supplying equipment from three different continents. Having installed, connected to the National Electricity Grid and safely operated the entire plant on time, after approximately 2 years of construction, is testament to Nordex’s reputation as quality turn-key execution partner of wind farm projects and manufacturer of wind turbines.”

The project’s success underlines South Africa’s increasing competitiveness in the global renewable energy industry. The Oysterbay area in the Eastern Cape, where the Kouga Wind Farm is located, is an ideal location for a wind farm. The average wind speed is over 9m/s around 33km/h and the wind is very constant throughout the day, dropping slightly in the evening.

Nordex’s contribution extends beyond the manufacturing, turn-key execution, installation and maintenance of the wind farm. As is policy for the German owned industry leader, socio-economic upliftment in the surrounding areas is a key focus.

At Kouga Wind Farm, Nordex promotes local labour from the communities in the towns surrounding the wind farm as well as several social upliftment programmes with local schools.

Says Anne Henschel, “We are contributing towards an English and Afrikaans reading programme at the Sandwater Primary School. We have also built a jungle gym for the children there. Further, we collaborated with Kouga Wind Farm Management and our subcontractors to build a clinic waiting facility in Umzamowethu. We also upgraded the Sea Vista Sports Field and Play Park and donated a refurbished container for the use of the sports field caretaker.”

As one of the technological leaders in multi-megawatt wind power systems, Nordex is benefiting from the trend in favour of large-scale turbines. The Generation Gamma range comprises the N90/2500, N100/2500 and the N117/2400, which is one of the most efficient series onshore turbines for light wind locations. To date, over 3,600 of these turbines have been produced. This experience with multi-megawatt turbines gives Nordex a decisive lead over most of its competitors. With Generation Delta, Nordex is now offering the fourth generation of its proven multi-megawatt platform (N100/3300, N117/3000, N131/3000). Nordex has installed a total of around 6100 turbines with an aggregate capacity of more than 10,000 MW all around the world. With exports accounting around 70 percent of its business, Nordex SE plays a key role in international high-growth regions. The Company has offices and subsidiaries in 22 countries around the world with a total global headcount of over 3,000 employees.