According to Xinhua news agency, according to local media reports, South Africa's largest green energy projects with an investment of more than 1 billion rand are wind farms; these independent power producers (IPPs) contribute 3976 megawatts of power generation, while coal power plants contribute 36400 megawatts; the three largest wind farms generate nearly 140 megawatts of power each.

It is worth noting that the largest wind farm project that has been built in South Africa at present is the north area project of phase II of de'a in South Africa developed by Longyuan Power of national energy group, with an installed power generation capacity of 144 MW. The second phase of the loerisfontein wind farm (generating 138 MW) and the Hobab wind farm (generating 137 MW) are closely followed, all of which are located in North Cape Province.

It is reported that Longyuan South Africa de'a project is China's first wind power project in Africa that integrates investment, construction and operation. The project is constructed synchronously in two phases, 25 kilometers to the southwest and 75 kilometers to the northeast of DEA Town, North Cape Province. The installed capacity is 100.5 MW and 144 MW respectively, with a total investment of about 2.5 billion yuan.

South Africa is facing a power crisis. Although South Africa's president, ramafusha, promised the public that there would be no power rationing before January 13, Eskom not only limited power, but also raised the level of power rationing to level 6 at one time.

In addition to the resignation of Eskom's head, various sectors of society are also providing advice on the electricity problem in South Africa. Ntombifuthi ntuli, chief executive of the South African Wind Energy Association, said that simply increasing the maximum export capacity (MEC) of all wind farms would immediately deliver 500 megawatts of energy to the grid.

Since December 2019, due to Eskom's failure to control the unplanned failure rate below 9500 megawatts (i.e. forced to consider load reduction level), the government is under increasing pressure to rapidly promote renewable energy projects.

Although independent power producers are far from 36400 megawatts of coal-fired power generation at present, this situation may soon change: unlike coal-fired power plants, which will take years to build, renewable energy projects will be built faster. Taking Longyuan South Africa de'a project as an example, in October 2015, the project officially entered the construction site; in September 2016, the first fan was successfully hoisted; on October 31, 2017, the project was completed and commercialized.

The good news is that if all 112 independent power generation projects go online, their power generation capacity is expected to reach 6422 megawatts, which can greatly alleviate the current electricity crisis in South Africa.

Source: China Environmental News