The Garob Wind Power Station is an operational

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

plant in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The power station was developed and is owned by

Enel Enel S.p.A. is an Italian Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas. Enel, which originally stood for Ente nazionale per l'energia elettrica (National Electricity Board), was first established ...

, the Italian manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas infrastructure, through its subsidiary ''Enel Green Power of South Africa'' (EGPRSA). Construction of this wind farm started in April 2019 and achieved commercial operation in December 2021. The energy generated at this wind farm is sold to the South African national electricity utility company

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...

, under a 20-year

power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

(PPA).

Location

The power station is located near the former mining town of Copperton, in

Siyathemba Local Municipality Siyathemba Local Municipality is a local municipality in the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality district of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Main places The 2001 census divided the municipality into the following main places: P ...

, in the Karoo Region, in

Northern Cape Province The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, ...

. This is approximately , by road, northwest of

De Aar De Aar is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It has a population of around 42,000 inhabitants. It is the second-most important railway junction in the country, situated on the line between Cape Town and Kimberley. The junctio ...

, the district headquarters of

Pixley ka Seme District Municipality Pixley ka Seme is one of the five districts of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Pixley ka Seme is De Aar. The majority (77%) of its 186,351 people speak Afrikaans as first language (2011 Census). The district code is DC7. ...

, where the power station is located. Copperton is located about , by road, southwest of

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, the capital city of Northern Cape Province.

Overview

The concession for this wind farm was awarded to Enel in 2015, as part of the fourth round of the ''Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme'' (REIPPPP), of the Republic of South Africa. Enel signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Eskom. During construction, the pylons that support the wind turbines were manufactured on-site, out of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

and

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

, instead of metal as is the usual method. This provided business for local suppliers and contractors.

Nordex Nordex SE is a European company that designs, sells and manufactures wind turbines. The company's headquarters is located in the German city of Rostock while management is situated in Hamburg. Production takes place in Rostock as well as in China ...

, the European supplier of the wind turbines, operates and maintains the power station on behalf of the owners.

Funding

Funding for this renewable energy infrastructure was sourced from two South African financial houses, namely

Absa Group Absa Group Limited (ABGL; formerly Barclays Africa Group Limited), and originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is a South African-based financial services group, offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and invest ...

and

Nedbank Nedbank Group is a financial services group in South Africa offering wholesale and retail banking services as well as insurance, asset management, and wealth management. Nedbank Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nedbank Group. Nedbank' ...

. The total cost of construction is reported to be in excess of €200 million (approx. US$225.7 million).

Other considerations

It is calculated that the wind farm adds 573GWh to the South African national grid every year. This power station saves the country the emission of 600,000 tons of annually. At the peak of construction an estimated 511 people were employed at the site. This is the 10th renewable power station developed by Enel, under the South African REIPPP program. The list of those power stations, with installed capacity exceeding 800 megawatts, is listed in references 1 and 2 below.

References

External links