Read More

Energy Development Corporation

Wind Power

By July this year, the people of Cape Town will be able to get electricity from the region's most abundant resource - the wind. It will cost more than normal electricity, but the supply will be clean and sustainable. This is thanks to an experimental project called Darling Wind Power, based near the picturesque Swartland town of Darling, 75km north of the city on the West Coast Road.

CEF, through its Energy Development Corporation (EDC) division, is a majority shareholder in the project. The corporation was set up in 2004 to investigate appropriate energy solutions and take an equity stake in their investment. The wind power generated by the four wind turbines will be sold to willing buyers, who will elect to buy the clean energy at a premium "green tariff" - 25 cents more per kilowatt hour than coal-fired electricity.

According to Brian Jones, Green Energy Manager from the City of Cape Town (CCT) Electricity Services, the main target at this stage is the commercial and industrial market. There is a demand for renewable energy from companies and exporters who need environmental accreditation for their products when dealing with overseas companies that operate in environments where a minimum consumption of green energy is required by legislation, or where taxes are imposed on carbon emissions.

Such laws are especially binding on countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol, of which South Africa is a signatory - the country has committed to generating 4% of its power from renewable resources by 2013. According to Mark Tanton of the EDC, a 2004 ministerial directive specified that CEF form a division to invest in renewable and alternative energy.

This wind-generated electricity will be transmitted through the national grid, but will be measured separately so as to meet the mandatory targets of companies buying green energy. The CCT will provide audited "green certificates" to these companies. The companies will also benefit by being able to reduce their impact on the environment  without having to invest in new infrastructure or technologies.

Ordinary Capetonians may eventually also become customers, as growing environmental awareness increases residential demand for clean and sustainable energy.

"We will be reviewing the policy of targetting companies because on a daily basis I am getting enquiries from domestic consumers on how to obtain green energy," says Jones. Consumers are increasingly concerned about their impact on the environment and the heavy contribution fossil fuel-based electricity makes to global warming, as well as the detrimental effect coal-fired power stations have on human health.

Wind power technology is already sophisticated and established abroad, so the "experimental" aspect of the project lies not in trying out the technology or in measuring wind energy potential - it is that it paves the way for similar small-scale and independent power production.

"The main benefit of this small project is that it creates an enabling environment for similar projects,"  says Tanton. In August 2006, a landmark power purchase agreement was signed between the CCT and Darling Wind Power. This is a landmark for future independent power producers (IPPs), as they can now approach municipalities about buying green energy and, if a large customer base is assured, it will go a long way toward inspiring confidence in the capital outlay of renewable energy technologies.

South Africa is currently deregulating its electricity market so as to make way for regional electricity distributors and IPPs, with a view to addressing the power crisis.

"CEF encourages IPPs who are using renewable energy and is supporting a few IPP projects including biogas, landfill gas and mini-hydro," says Tanton. And other municipalities have expressed interest in the CCT's new approach.

The wind farm lies on Moedmaag Hill, on Windhoek Farm, 12 km from Darling. The four wind turbines, currently being imported, are 17 storeys high, with a total output of 5.2MW. Their 33.5-metre blades, each longer than the wing of a Boeing 747-400, power 42-ton engine rooms at the top of the towers. The turbines are built by Siemens in Denmark, currently one of world's leaders in wind power generation.

At this stage the civil works on the site are proceeding and the foundations are being laid. The environmental impact of the turbines will be measured and the viability of the project assessed before CEF pursues any further development of the project.

The project is being funded by CEF, Danish government agency Danida, and the Development Bank of South Africa. Shareholders in Darling Wind Power include CEF with a 49% stake, the Darling Independent Power Producer (Pty) Ltd with 26%, and black empowerment partners with 25%.