Zimbabwe: SA's IPP Wind Farm Starts Delivering to Sasol

24 October 2024
The Herald (Harare)

South Africa's renewable energy industry reached a new milestone recently when the 69MW Msenge Emoyeni Wind Farm became the first independent power producer (IPP) using wind technology and selling to a private offtaker to come into operation.

The buyer is petrochemical giant Sasol.

The energy from Msenge Emoyeni, situated near Bedford in the Eastern Cape, is transmitted via the Eskom transmission network to Sasol's plant in Sasolburg in the Free State to produce green hydrogen.

Sasol CEO Simon Baloyi says Msenge Emoyeni is part of 750MW of green energy agreements that Sasol has already secured to achieve its target of 1 200MW of green energy by 2030.

"These developments are a major milestone in our commitment to sustainable energy. We want to build on this success and explore opportunities to establish ourselves as leaders in renewable energy projects. This helps us reduce our carbon footprint and supports South Africa on its energy journey." The wind farm was developed by a consortium led by African Clean Energy Developments (Aced), which already has several renewable projects in operation and is developing more.

The wind farm consists of 16 turbines with a generation capacity of 4.5MW each and has a 20-year power purchase agreement with Sasol.

Aced GM James Cumming says the company and its parent company and funder, African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), are participating in the government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (Reippp) and already have about 1 000MW of projects in operation.

"The programme is very important and necessary, but it is complex, and the competition is tough," he says.

Aced therefore targeted the private sector early on, and has already developed and built a 30MW solar farm cluster near Odendaalsrus in the Free State, with Harmony Gold as the offtaker.

Its early entry ensured that Aced obtained network connections, and the group built on its experience with the solar farm to put all the necessary approvals and agreements in place for the wheeling of the power. - Moneyweb

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