Italian independent power producer (IPP) ENEL Green Power, has started commercial operation of a 140MW (at peak) wind energy farm in Kouga, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.
ENEL Green Power, a subsidiary of the ENEL group, launched construction work on the facility in 2019, after the signing of a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-owned Eskom.
ENEL Green Power says it has invested €180Million in the construction of the facility, capable of producing 568 GWh of electricity per year “while avoiding emissions into the atmosphere of 590,000 tons of CO2 equivalent over the same period”. William Price, the company’s CEO in Soth Arica, says it is “ the ninth such clean energy facility commissioned by Enel in South Africa.
“The other facilities are located in Nojoli (88 MW), Gibson Bay (111 MW) and Nxuba (140 MW) in the Eastern Cape, Upington (10 MW) and Adams (82.5 MW) in the Western Cape, Paleisheuwel (82.5 MW) in the Western Cape, Pulida (82.5 MW) in the Free State, and Tom Burke (66 MW) in Limpopo. These solar and wind power plants inject 800 MW into the Eskom grid”.
