South Africa is set to start construction of the 140MW Kangnas Wind Farm, one of the REIPPPP’s giant Bid Window 4 projects following 95% clearance of its site roads, totalling over 52km’s.
Construction Project Manager for Kangnas Wind Farm, Manie Kotzé who is also the leader of the construction team, confirmed the reports and said they have already managed to clear 33 hardstands as well as excavating two turbine foundations.
“Clearing and grubbing is an essential part of all construction development, paving the way for us to begin excavating the turbine foundations,” explained Kotzé.
Even though it’s still early days in the construction process, considering that financial closure was achieved just three months ago, the construction team has also commenced with controlled blasting, to a depth of 2.5 m on five hardstands and is forging ahead to begin building the turbine foundations.
“We hope to have excavated 21 foundations by the end of September and then can justifiably say that construction is truly under way,” added Kotzé, who describes the technology behind generating wind power efficiently and effectively as fascinating.
Kangnas Wind Farm is situated in the Nama Khoi Municipal area, in the Northern Cape. This Province is home to more than half the country’s 112 independent power producers (IPP), with more than 19 projects already connected to the grid with a capacity of 900MW.
Once operational, Kangnas Wind Farm will deliver 140MW of clean renewable power from its sixty-one, 115-m-high, wind turbines. It will have the capacity to generate around 563,500MWh of clean renewable energy per year and is expected to supply electricity to power up to 120,000 South African homes.
