Electrical engineering and electronics company Siemens will, by 2017, have supplied a total of 157 wind turbines to wind energy projects in South Africa, following a 2014 contract that committed Siemens to supplying wind turbines to a consortium led by wind and solar utility Mainstream Renewable Power for the supply of wind turbines for the Khobab, Loeriesfontein 2 and Noupoort wind farms in South Africa. Of the 157 wind turbines, 35 turbines are destined for Noupoort, while the balance of 122 will be shared equally between Khobab and Loeriesfontein.

“It is a great honour for us as a company to be entrusted with these projects and we look forward to building on the strong partnership we have with our customer,” says Siemens wind power division head Tom Pedersen.

The wind farms fall under the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

The three wind farms have a combined generation capacity of 360 MW. The 140 MW Khobab wind farm and the 140 MW Loeriesfontein 2 wind farm are both located in the Namakwa district municipality in the Western Cape, while the 80 MW Noupoort wind farm is located in Umsobomvu local municipality in the Northern Cape. All projects will be equipped with the Siemens SWT-2.3-108 wind turbine, which has a rotor diameter of 108 m and towers with a hub height of 99.5 m.

Turbine installation started in August with commissioning of the three projects scheduled from early 2016 to the end of 2017.

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/engineering-multinational-provides-157-wind-turbines-for-sa-wind-farms-2015-11-27