South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme has driven an increase in the country's wind power generation. Daily Maverick visited the Brandvalley and Rietkloof wind farms that are under construction in the Karoo, each of which will have the ability to generate about 590 gigawatt hours of energy per year when completed.

The white, man-made monoliths that make up the Brandvalley and Rietkloof wind farms stand in stark contrast to the rugged emptiness of the Karoo landscape. The sibling projects are located along the boundary between the Western and Northern Cape provinces, just off the R354 road that connects the towns of Matjiesfontein and Sutherland.

When they are completed, each wind farm will have 32 Vestas V150-4.5MW wind turbines, with the ability to generate about 590 gigawatt hours of energy per year. This will allow each project to power around 183,000 households annually while avoiding the emission of approximately 620,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent every year.

The Brandvalley and Rietkloof farms are part of a group of projects that reached financial close in February 2023, under Bid Window 5 of South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) Programme. Both are expected to be operating commercially in the fourth quarter of this year.

When Daily Maverick visited the two sites, construction was well under way. A total of 44 turbines had been erected by 18 June -- 23 at Brandvalley and 21 at Rietkloof.

Expanding wind generation sector

South Africa's renewable energy sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, with...