Danish wind energy technology manufacturer, Vestas, has announced that it has secured an order of 373 MW in wind turbines from African independent power producer Red Rocket, for its Brandvalley, Rietkloof and Wolf wind projects, to be located in Western Cape and Eastern Cape South Africa.
According to Vestas, the supply contract includes installation of 64 V150-4.5 MW wind turbines, 12 V163-4.5 MW wind turbines and five V162-6.2 MW Enventus wind turbines. Vestas will service the wind farms through a 15-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) agreement.
“Red Rocket has been investing and supporting South Africa’s electricity crisis for more than a decade and with a portfolio of more than 1,000 MW of wind, hydro and solar projects under development, in construction or in operation in the country, we are delighted to continue making a significant contribution to South Africa and the rest of the continent,” said Matteo Brambilla, Red Rocket’s CEO.
“The projects will bring a 740-million-rand community investment over 20 years through local social projects. The wind farms will start operating in 2024,” Brambilla adds.
Turbine delivery and commissioning for the wind projects is expected to take place in 2024.
Higher capacity factor in new Vestas turbine
Vestas revealed that the order will see the first installations globally of the V163-4.5 MW wind turbine from Vestas’ 4 MW platform. The V163-4.5 MW turbine features an 18 per cent increase in swept area, and has a large rotor-size-to-rating ratio resulting in a higher capacity factor, enabling up to 10 percent higher Annual Energy Production at park level compared to the V150-4.5 MW depending on site-specific conditions.
Additionally, the increased power output at lower wind speeds significantly improves predictability and stability in production, optimising the utilisation of the wind plant as well as benefiting the energy grid.
Vestas leads the South African wind power market with over 1.3 GW of installed and under construction capacity. The company affirmed that it is strongly committed to contributing to South Africa’s new renewable energy targets, which include reaching 17.7 GW of wind capacity by 2030, and increasing the presence of renewables in its energy mix from the current 11 per cent to about 41 per cent by 2030.
“With three different wind turbine variants across platforms this order showcases that we are able to enhance the customer business case through optimising the layout on each wind project site with Vestas’ flexible and diverse product portfolio. We firmly believe that our partnership can make a significant contribution to a more reliable, affordable and sustainable energy mix in South Africa”, says Vestas Sales & Business Development Senior Director, Malte Meyer.
