Vestas, a Danish wind turbine maker, has secured a new order in South Africa. In the Western Cape Province, the firm will erect wind turbines for a 108 MW wind farm owned by the independent power producer (IPP), Red Rocket.
Vestas benefits from the vibrant renewable energy market in South Africa. Nelson Mandela's native country has awarded a fresh contract to the Danish wind turbine maker. At the Witberg wind farm close to Matjiesfontein in the Western Cape region, the Copenhagen-listed company will erect 24 wind turbines. Vestas has also inked "a 15-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) agreement" with Red Rocket, the independent power producer (IPP) that developed the project, as part of the agreement.
Red Rocket has entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Sibanye-Stillwater, a mining firm specializing in the extraction of precious platinum group metals and gold in South Africa. This means that Witberg will be the largest wind farm to produce electricity for the private sector. As per the deal, Sibanye-Stillwater's facilities will be powered by the electricity generated for a period of 15 years, starting from the first quarter of 2025, when the wind farm is slated to be commissioned.
The Witberg wind farm financing was completed successfully, as Red Rocket, according to CEO Matteo Brambilla, "recently affirmed its position as an independent power producer in South Africa." An investment of 3.4 billion South African rand, or roughly $180.4 million, will be needed to construct the Witberg wind farm.
The energy shift that South Africa is currently experiencing is aided by this initiative. One of the main participants in this development is Vestas, a group that will have over 15 billion euros in sales in 2021. Vestas has been building wind farms in this southern African nation. These include the 294 MW Soetwater and Karusa wind farms, which are slated to go online in 2022.