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New Wind Farm in South Africa

wind-farm-south-africa
South Africa is now home to one of the largest wind farms in all of Africa. The farm produces 138 megawatts of electricity and is located between the cities of Jeffrey’s Bay and Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape province.

The private power generation company in Africa, Globeleq, led the creation of the farm. It consists of 60 turbines that are 80 meters tall, and cover a span of 3,700 hectares. The turbines will provide enough clean, renewable energy to power 100,000 South African homes each year.

South Africa’s current means of production of energy is producing carbon dioxide. With the implementation of this wind farm, the country can avoid producing 420,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Renewable energy sources are a fairly new phenomenon in Africa, but they are proving to be extremely powerful and efficient. Mikael Karlsson, Globeleq’s CEO, said, “[The Jeffrey’s Bay Wind Farm] demonstrates significant support for independent private power producers in the region and indicates the sustainability of the renewable energy sector.”

He continued to discuss the return to the community that this project will provide: “A percentage of the project’s operational revenues will be reinvested into the local community through socio-economic and enterprise development programmes, creating the skills needed to support the growth of the renewable energy industry in South Africa.”

The Jeffrey’s Bay Wind Farm is currently the second biggest on the continent. It is bigger than the 120-megawatt Ashegoda farm in Ethiopia, but the Tarfaya farm in southwestern Morocco will generate up to 300 megawatts of electricity annually.

The wind farm is a part of South Africa’s latest attempt at using renewable energy. The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers (RE-IPP) program, which began in 2011, is focusing on solar and wind energy projects. Over the past several months, solar power projects have been implemented across the country, entering South Africa into the world’s top 10 utility solar power markets. The same accolades can be expected with the continued growth of wind energy projects.

– Hannah Cleveland
Sources: AllAfrica, Energy Business Review, Clean Technica
Photo: Clean Technica

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Somaliland’s First Wind Farm

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Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID,) the United States government has joined the self-declared Somaliland Administration in presenting a wind energy facility project to power the Hargeisa Egal International Airport.

Officiated by Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo, a ceremony was held on June 2 at the Hargeisa Egal International Airport. Other attendees included USAID’s Acting Somalia Office Director Hodan Hassan, various representatives from the private sector and civil society and the Ministers of Civil Aviation, Environment, Information, Interior, Planning and Water.

The Somaliland Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has been charged with the responsibility of controlling and overseeing the new wind energy facility project, which will also be managed by the government via a public-private partnership.

The facility is set up to serve as an alternative to expensive diesel fuel by powering some of the surrounding communities as well as the airport. Golis Energy, a local engineering company supported by USAID, has been credited for constructing the major wind farm.

At over $1.25 per kilowatt, the cost of electricity in Somaliland is one of the highest rates in the world. The high energy rates in Somaliland are a result of a disorganized network of independent providers that use different grids and unreliable equipment.

The state loses nearly 40 percent of its electricity due to various technical problems that arise from the dilapidated equipment. Minister of Energy Hussein Abdi Dualeh has stated that theft and illegal connections further cause power providers to barely break even. “We need a legal framework to govern the sector — we need an electricity law.”

Dualeh believes that renewable energy needed to be considered because Somaliland has more than 340 days of sun and “some of the fastest wind in the world.” Since 2011, USAID’s Partnership for Economic Growth program has been working with officials and the private sector in Somaliland to bring renewable energy to the area.

Additionally, Somaliland officials and USAID have ensured a competitive market for the new energy services and drafted a series of necessary laws and regulations to “regulate and standardize the sector.”

Since 2010, USAID has invested almost $50 million in Somaliland for a number of sectors, including community stabilization, governance, education, health and economic growth. An additional $14 million was allocated to fund USAID’s Partnership for Economic Growth program, which has financed efforts to develop renewable energy in Somaliland, invested in the livestock and agriculture sectors, and promoted economic stability through private sector development.

The issues with Somaliland’s energy sector have had an enormous impact on private business and investment climate. A 2011 assessment carried out by USAID’s Partnership for Economic Growth showed that most business owners cited electricity rates and services as a “constraint to growth.”

For small-scale and local industries especially, the high overhead costs equate to difficulties in competing with imports, resulting in fewer products being produced in Somaliland. Citing Somaliland’s “inefficient, unreliable and prohibitively expensive power supply,” Chief of Party Suleiman Mohamed asked, “how can you expect businesses that require a reliable electricity supply to succeed?”

 — Kristy Liao

Sources: DAI, The Guardian, Somalicurrent
Photo: Construction Week Online