OVERVIEW Energy Energy
OVERVIEW Energy Energy development zones will boost employment. SECTOR INSIGHT The Toyota dealership in Upington generates more electricity than it needs. Credit: Kangnas Wind Farm Four of the 11 Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZs) planned for South Africa are located in the Northern Cape. With the majority of the country’s solar photovoltaic energy projects occurring in the province, the renewable energy sector is becoming a key economic driver for the region. REDZs will encourage localisation through the development of manufacturing hubs that can make components for the sector. Planned Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being phased in across the Northern Cape will complement this trend. REDZs are being developed in support of the implementation of the national Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019). One of the Strategic Transmission Corridors identified at national level, the Northern Corridor, begins at Springbok in the west and runs through Upington and Vryburg on the way to Johannesburg in Gauteng. Each of those towns will be the focus of an REDZ, with the other REDZ in the province located in the provincial capital of Kimberley. To assist investors, a One Stop Shop is to be launched in the Northern Cape. Invest SA, through the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) will provide investing companies with advice and services to fast-track projects and reduce red tape. Toyota SA’s Dealer Environmental Risk Audit Programme requires dealers to reduce waste and pollution and expend less energy, among other things in a 16-point checklist. In 2018 Upington Toyota won Eco Dealer of the Year, not least because of the dealership’s 540m² roof which has hundreds of solar panels capturing the steady Northern Cape sunshine. Once national policy gives the green light, Upington Toyota will be able to feed the excess power that it generates on weekends into the grid. Although the Northern Cape is increasingly seen as a solar power hub, large wind projects are also winning approval and coming on stream at a good rate. The 140MW Kangnas Wind Farm near Springbok started commercial operations in November 2020, thus becoming the first project approved under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) Bid Window 4 to start generating power to the grid. The commissioning of the 100MW De Aar Wind Power Project brings together Mulilo Renewable Energy and the China Longyuan Power Group Corporation. Commercial operations have begun on Khobab Wind Farm and Loeriesfontein Wind Farm, collectively providing 280MW via 61 wind turbines. The projects were developed by Lekela Power, NORTHERN CAPE BUSINESS 2021/22 34
OVERVIEW a joint venture between Actis and Mainstream Renewable Power, as the Kangnas project was. Noblesfontein was one of the earliest wind farms to be constructed in the Northern Cape, about 40km from Victoria West. Spanish company Gestamp Wind was an early investor. The 147MW Roggeveld Wind Farm, which has 47 Nordex wind turbines and was developed by G7 and then taken over by Building Energy, will operate commercially in the first quarter of 2021. A Renewable Energy Directorate is to be established by the Provincial Government of the Northern Cape. The brief of the directorate is to assist local and district municipalities to create revenue streams related to renewable energy. Industry associations claim that benefits are indeed being shared with local communities. Figures released by the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) showed shareholding for local communities reached an estimated net income of R29.2-billion for projects initiated nationally since 2012. Some 14 000 new jobs are expected to be created, mostly in rural areas, and more than R30- billion has been spent on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in the construction phase. In less than a decade, an entirely new sector has been created through legislation that invited local and foreign investors to bid for and then build renewable energy generation plants. South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) requires 20 000MW of renewable energy by 2030. That will be achieved mainly through the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Solar power Approximately 60% of the projects so far allocated have been in the nation’s sunniest province. Projects such as Kathu Solar Park, a concentrated solar power (CSP) project, and the Roggeveld Wind Farm are indicative of the large scale of most of the energy generation that is being rolled out. Xina Solar One is located at Pofadder on the N14 between Upington and Springbok. The R9.4-billion project is a joint venture between Spanish energy firm Abengoa Solar, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and a community trust representing the local population. Kaxu Solar One is also near Pofadder but Khi Solar One is closer to Upington. All three plants use concentrated solar power (CSP) which reflects the sun’s rays during the day in to a molten salt storage system. The energy is then slowly released during the night. The 205m tower that collects the rays at the Khi Solar One site is one of the tallest structures in South Africa. The Northern Cape is the natural home for the generation of solar power. Long-term annual direct normal irradiance (DNI) at Upington is 2 816kWh/m2, according to a survey done for Stellenbosch University by Slovakian company GeoModal Solar. South Africa’s national average is among the best in the world. Stellenbosch University’s Solar Thermal Energy Research Group has six sites monitoring irradiation levels. Saudi Arabian electricity group ACWA Power has won approval for the 100MW Redstone project near Postmasburg and the 50MW Bokpoort CSP plant near Groblershoop is in operation. ■ ONLINE RESOURCES IPP projects: www.ipp-projects.co.za National Energy Regulator of South Africa: www.nersa.org.za South African Photovoltaic Industry Association: www.sapvia.co.za South African Renewable Energy Council: www.sarec.org.za South African Wind Energy Association: www.sawea.org.za 35 NORTHERN CAPE BUSINESS 2021/22
