Khobab Wind Power Project
The Bank plays an active role in addressing climate change by investing in renewable energy initiatives in Africa.
Energy is one of the primary and crucial sectors that the DBSA funds. The Bank plays an active role in addressing climate change by investing in renewable energy initiatives in Africa. It was also a key role-player in the development of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) and funded the establishment and administration of the IPP Office. The DBSA funded 13% of debt and contributed towards 19 projects across all the bid windows.
Khobab Wind Energy Power Plant is located in the Northern Cape and reached commercial operation in December 2017. It is a sister wind plant to the Loeriesfontein Wind Power Plant with a generation capacity of 140MW. The two power plants combined have the largest single expanse of turbines in South Africa spanning 6 653 hectares of land. Khobab Wind Power Plant consists of 61 wind turbines, which produce 2.3MW of energy each. The farm is connected to Eskom’s Helio substation located 8km south of the wind farm. It has contributed towards increasing the capacity for renewable energy in South Africa as it generates approximately 563 500MWh/year of clean, renewable energy to the national grid. Moreover, it has a positive impact on the environment as it avoids 550 000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
The DBSA participated in financing the development of the Khobab Wind Power Plant – a wind energy facility awarded preferred bidder status in round three of the Department of Energy’s (DoE) REIPPPP. Khobab Wind Power Plant was established to improve electricity supply and aid in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by producing electricity from a renewable resource of energy.
A substantial funding package was provided by the DBSA for the development, design, construction and commissioning of a 140MW wind powered plant by Mainstream Renewable Power (MRP) South Africa and Genesis Eco-Energy.
The Khobab Wind Power Plant is aimed at positively contributing to the environment, economy, and social development of the country. The project provides cleaner energy using environmentally acceptable methods. The table on the next page illustrates the developmental outcomes and impacts that were identified through the evaluation.
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- The company has spent a substantial amount of money with regards to community upliftment and socio-economic development of the community. The impacts of the company’s investments have been far reaching and substantial (e.g., the detection of cancer in community members through the CANCER Pink Drive). However, this has created an impression in the community that Khobab is responsible for their local needs because of the lack of support from Hantam Local Municipality. Thus, much is expected from the project in terms providing job opportunities, infrastructure development and catering for other socio-economic needs. There is need for the clarification of roles as expectations could potentially cause unrest if not clarified.
- The experience of the operations team of the wind plant has assisted the plant to deal with issues arising, such as the burning of cabling with regularity. A major contributor is the Balance of Plant (BOP) remaining to give the plant more control over the operations and maintenance. The regular maintenance of the components of the plant assists it to operate efficiently.
- The investment of the plant in systems such as the condition monitoring system (CMS) has assisted to automate maintenance processes and also the monitoring of the plant in real time to prevent any long-term damage and issues persisting without being detected.
- The wind plant is compliant to the stipulations of the EMP, and the plant has taken additional precautions to ensure that negative environmental consequences are kept to a minimum.
Overall, the development of the Khobab Wind Power Plant has yielded positive results. The power plant generates approximately 563 500MWh/year of clean, renewable energy to the national grid. Moreover, it has a positive impact on the environment as it prevents 550 000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
The project also had a positive impact on the Loeriesfontein community. The schools were refurbished and a bridge built to connect the community as well as a business and training hub established in the area. Furthermore, the project was also able to assist in terms of health issues resulting in people in the area being screened for illnesses such as cancer, a service which was previously not available in the community. The local economy was stimulated as community members were trained to work in the power plant as well as assisting local businesses. Thus, the project has had a positive developmental impact on the community and was seen as a good investment for the DBSA.
by procuring materials from local manufacturers, contributing to the area’s socioeconomic stability
reduction
demonstrates that the project has significantly empowered the province to unlock value to foster economic growth and development
supplied with green electricity
Northern Cape, South Africa