Wind power project in South Africa

Energy generation in South Africa is dominated by the coal industry. In 2021, over 71% of South Africa’s energy was derived from coal. As the world’s most polluting energy source, a shift away from coal is desperately needed if we are to stem global temperature rise, so alternative energy sources need developing to meet energy demands. 

In fact, just 3.33% of South Africa’s energy came from renewable sources in 2021, showing there is a lot of progress still to be made. Current plans aim to increase the proportion of energy coming from wind power, targeting 15.7% of energy coming from wind power by 2030, with a further 10.5% planned to come from solar power.

In South Africa, energy demand per capita has actually fallen fairly steadily since 2008. Access to electricity is not universal though; only around 84% of people have access to an electricity source that can provide very basic lighting, and charge a phone or power a radio for 4 hours per day. South Africa is currently in the midst of an energy crisis that has been steadily growing over the past 14 years, underpinned by the prolonged lack of reliable electricity supply from the country’s state-owned utility supplier. 

Causes for the energy sector’s collapse are multi-faceted, but reside in the improper maintenance of existing coal-fired power station infrastructure, corruption and mismanagement, and until very recently, a general reluctance to move beyond reliance on coal. The increased rolling blackouts as a result of insufficient generation capacity not only negatively affect people’s livelihoods, but have broader implications for the country’s economy and growth as a whole. 

South Africa generates 45% of Africa’s energy, and has been identified as the country with the highest wind potential in sub-Saharan Africa. Financing renewable energy projects in South Africa not only contributes to reduced carbon dioxide emissions, but also assists in stabilising South Africa’s power grid – thereby enhancing the quality of life of its citizens and shifting towards a future free of fossil fuels.

This project, called the Longyuan Mulilo De Aar 2 North Wind Energy Facility, is located outside of the town of De Aar, the main town of the Emthanjeni Local Municipality located in the Northern Cape Province. It consists of 96 wind turbines and associated infrastructure. By negating the need to develop more fossil fuel power plants, and reducing demand for energy from existing fossil fuel power plants, this project will lead to CO2e emissions being avoided – an average of 433,929tCO2e avoided per year, for the entirety of the 10 year crediting period.

In addition to avoiding carbon dioxide emissions, preventing fossil fuel combustion will also prevent the emissions of flue gas, coal ash, and oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, preventing air pollution.

Economically, this project has created job opportunities in the local area – almost 9,000 person-months during the construction phase, and over 14,000 person-months in the operation phase. 

Mitigation for impacts of the project on local biodiversity has been put in place, including scheduling the operation of the turbines to minimise the impact of the blades on local bird and bat populations based on ongoing monitoring of local numbers.

A health project has been set up by the project developers to improve healthcare for 9,000 local people too. A mobile clinic provides free health screenings, as well as optometry and dental services. This health service proved invaluable during the Covid-19 pandemic, when over 20,000 of the health screenings carried out by medical staff working at the clinic were Covid-19 related. Additionally, by travelling to schools in the local area, the mobile clinic has provided healthcare services to local children, helping to reduce absenteeism caused by illness and thus boosting the quality of the education the children have been recieving.

A Water Upgrade project was also set up in September 202 to improve local access to clean water. By upgrading 5 boreholes, the local water demands can now be met, all thanks to this wind project!

The project is also supporting local sport, sponsoring local football teams!

This project is verified by the Verified Carbon Standard. You can view it on the Verra Registry here.