EDF EN commissions first wind farm in South Africa

South Africa is seeing a massive leap in wind energy development. To add to the mix, French company EDF Energies Nouvelles has announced the commissioning of the Grassridge wind farm in South Africa by InnoWind, its local subsidiary.

The construction, in excess of R1 billion, of Grassridge Wind Energy Facility in Nelson Mandela Bay, was established at PPC Cement’s Grassridge quarry in Port Elizabeth.

The wind farm is the first of the group to be developed, built and operated on the African continent.

The facility comprises 20 Vestas V-112 3 MW wind turbines, with a combined installed capacity of 61.5 MW, delivering electricity equivalent to the yearly consumption of about 40,000 households.

Egmont Ottermann, Group Energy Manager at PPC Ltd said, “The wind farm forms part of PPC’s long-term rehabilitation plans for the mine.

PPC is committed to becoming a more sustainable company and this is the first step in procuring power from renewable sources.”

The Grassridge project was developed under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme of South Africa which targets 3,725 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2016.

It is the first of the three schemes EDF Energies Nouvelles won in a competitive tender in 2012.

More information from Andrea Meyer, Mobile: +27 (0) 72 261 7588 / Andrea.meyer@ppc.co.za