Two more wind farms in the Eastern Cape with a combined generation capacity of 199 MW have been listed as preferred bidders in the third round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP).
The preferred bidders were announced by Energy Minister Ben Martins.
Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism MEC Mcebisi Jonas has described the announcement as “further evidence of the fact that the Eastern Cape is fast becoming an African leader in renewable energy wind farms”.
One of the wind farms with a generation capacity of 111 MW will be constructed by Red Cap Investments at Gibson Bay in the Kouga Local Municipality and the other that will produce 88 MW will be constructed by African Clean Energy Developments (ACED) at Cookhouse in the Blue Crane Municipality.
Both companies were successful bidders in round one of the REIPPP Programme and are constructing wind farms in the same areas. The additional 199 MW awarded to the two preferred bidders in the Eastern Cape on Monday
brings the total of renewable energy to be generated by wind facilities in the Eastern Cape to 1005.05MW with solar photovoltaic investments adding a further 69.6MW.
The total value of the wind and solar photovoltaic investment in the province is now well in excess of R20 billion the value of the two wind farms announced on Monday is R3.5 billion of which R1.6 billion or 45.8% will be local content.
The MEC said the combined capacity of the wind farms and the monetary value of the investment was “truly staggering and lends further weight to the contention by former Energy Minister Dipuo Peters that the Eastern Cape is poised to become one of the country’s major energy hubs.
The MEC has, however, expressed concern about the failure of any of the proposed wind facilities in the former Transkei to secure the status of preferred bidder in the three rounds to date, although he notes that the Department of Energy is considering announcing additional preferred bidders from those who applied in round three.
He said it was recognised that there were logistical challenges in terms of transport the ports of Ngqura and Saldanha are the only ones able to handle the massive components and that there were also issues around security of land tenure.
We need, however, to find a way to ensure that investment in renewable energy projects into the Eastern Cape is not totally lopsided, possibly by looking at some kind of incentives that will make siting these facilities in the former Transkei more attractive.
The western part of the province clearly stands to benefit significantly in the energy sector both from the renewable energy investment and initiatives around shale gas and Nuclear 1 at Thyspunt.
“Ensuring that the focus on these major projects does not result in the continued marginalisation of the former homelands is now the challenge that we must meet and we need to engage with National Government on mechanisms to ensure investment and therefore development is
properly balanced.”
For enquiries:
Sixolile Makaula, Communications Manager
Cell: 072 751 5001
E‐mail: sixolile.makaula@deaet.ecape.gov.za
