The wind farm, which will be built with an investment of €200m, is located in the Amatole District in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. It is part of the 700MW wind capacity awarded to Enel in the South African government’s renewable tender in April 2015.
The Nxuba wind farm is expected to be completed by next September and will generate more than 460GWh of clean electricity at full capacity, annually, while avoiding nearly 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere.
It is supported by a 20 year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the South African energy utility Eskom, as part of the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) tender.
Enel Green Power Head Antonio Cammisecra said: “Through the start of construction of the Nxuba wind farm, which is the first out of the five projects awarded to the company in South Africa’s 2015 renewable tender to begin construction, Enel confirms its commitment to grow and strengthen its presence in the country.
“This new project reaffirms EGP RSA’s contribution to further diversify South Africa’s generation mix, while supplying sustainable energy to Eskom, and promoting the socio-economic growth of local communities.”
Enel Green Power RSA also stated that it use new tools and practices during the wind farm’s construction. These include advanced digital platforms and software solutions to monitor and remotely support site activities and plant commissioning.
Other projects secured by Enel’s subsidiary in Round 4 of the REIPPPP tender include the 140MW Oyster Bay wind farm, also in the Eastern Cape, as well as the 140MW Garob, the 140MW Karusa and the 140MW Soetwater wind plants, all in the Northern Cape province.
The company already has 520MW of renewable energy projects in solar and wind operating in South Africa.
Recently, Enel began constructing 716MW Lagoa dos Ventos wind farm in Brazil. This wind farm could be operational by 2021 and will generate about 3.3TWh of clean energy. Powered by 230 wind turbines, the energy generated from the project will be enough to cut at least 1.6 million tons of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere.