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IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA has completed the development of its first renewable energies project in South Africa, consisting of the construction of three major facilities: the Noblesfontein and Klipheuwel wind farms and the Jasper PV power plant.
Following the award of three contracts worth €273 million, it is the largest project carried out to date by IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA in the renewables sector in Africa and an important experience in a potentially emerging market. The two wind farms and the PV power plant built by the subsidiary of IBERDROLA in a consortium with South African firm Group Five have a combined capacity of 200MW.
The South African Energy Department (Renewable Energy IPP Program) unveiled to run an ambitious Renewable Energies Program which aims to boost the generation of electricity using renewable sources. This program expects to award contracts for a total capacity of 3,725 MW involving various renewable energies in five different rounds. The South African Government recently announced its intention to launch another renewables program after the current one is over, to add a further 3,200 MW of clean generation capacity to the grid by the year 2020. These goals make South Africa one of the wind power and PV markets in the world with the highest potential at the present time.
The two wind power projects constructed by IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA are respectively located in the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces. The 74MW Noblesfontein facility was awarded in a contract worth €112 million by a consortium formed by Spanish firm Gestamp Wind and two South African partners: Shanduka and Sarge. Consisting 41 wind turbines with a unit capacity of 1.8MW (Vestas V100 model), the wind farm connects to a substation and the power line for uploading energy to the grid. The other wind farm, the 27MW Klipheuwel project, was awarded by South African firm Biotherm Energy and valued at €40 million and is located close to the town of Caledon. Developed by IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA and Group Five, it also features the participation of Chinese firm Sinovel, which supplied the nine wind turbines for the park, i.e. SL3000 models with a unit capacity of 3 MW.
The Jasper photovoltaic power plant, which at 96 MW is the largest in Africa, is another project completed by IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA. The company and Group Five have been working on this project after being selected by the Jasper Power Company (a specific project company in which US firm Solar Reserve has a stake) and signing a contract valued at €121 million. It was carried out in a desert area with extreme temperatures and involved the installation of over 325,000 modules. This project is located in Northern Cape province and covers a surface area equivalent to 205 football pitches.
The tender procedures for the Noblesfontein and Klipheuwel facilities were organized under the auspices of Round 1 in the Renewable Energies Program while the Jasper photovoltaic power plant was launched during Round 2.