Construction World August 2015

COMMENT

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In a world where regular load shedding has become a reality, industry and normal South African citizens have looked to renewable energy sources as a way to become independent of Eskom and its dependence on electricity generated from fossil fuel and nuclear energy.

Wind energy now accounts for about half of all renewable energy generated in South Africa: 740 MW of electricity is contributed to the grid – out of the 45 000 MW of installed power in South Africa. According to Johan van den Berg, CEO of the SA Wind Energy Association, the entire fleet of wind turbines is currently at a capacity of 70% – this is because wind does not blow consistently. If one looks at our wind energy in context, South Africa currently produces around 2,5% of what Denmark produces (wind energy). Van den Berg is the first to admit that there is huge room for improvement – especially given the optimal South African winds that are still unharvested. South Africa’s winds South Africa’s size counts in its favour as far as harvesting wind energy is concerned. A project that mapped winds has found that South Africa has very good winds by international standards. In fact, it found a 20 000 MW wind industry quite possible. According to Van den Berg, an

industry of this size equates to around 7 000 towers and turbines. As far as the wind situation goes: the mentioned study showed a U-shape – starting about 400 km north and west of Cape Town, running down to the coastline and to the edge of the former Transkei. This means that areas inland – such as the central Karoo, are also good wind areas. Advantages of wind energy Apart from the fact that it is renewable, the biggest advantage is the relatively short up-time of wind power when compared to fossil and nuclear power generation. Van den Berg says that a wind farm can reach the bidding process within four years. He indicates that this has already taken place and various wind farms are at the execution stage. From bidding, the next phase, according to Van den Berg is ‘financial closure’ during which construction begins. Depending on the size of the wind farm, construction can take between 12 and

14 months (for a small wind farm), while larger farms take longer. In South Africa, by international standards, extremely large wind farms are being built – up to 60 large turbines (130 MWand 140 MW). Even though the construction of such farms may take up to 18 months, it is still much faster than conventional power plants that may take up to 15 years to complete.

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Wilhelm du Plessis Editor @ConstWorldSA

EDITOR Wilhelm du Plessis constr@crown.co.za ADVERTISING MANAGER Erna Oosthuizen ernao@crown.co.za LAYOUT & DESIGN Lesley Testa CIRCULATION Karen Smith

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD AUGUST 2015