SA’s largest wind project will soon begin construction in Mpumalanga.
- Seriti Resources and Seriti Green have signed a power purchase agreement for a 155MW wind farm.
- The project will be the largest wind farm in South Africa and the first in Mpumalanga.
- The 155MW mark the first phase of a larger 900MW project.
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Seriti has signed a landmark power purchase agreement (PPA) that will kick off construction of a 155MW wind power project in Mpumalanga, the largest in South Africa and the first wind project in the province, in the coming months.
The PPA between Seriti Green and Seriti Resources is on a 20-year basis and is anticipated to supply 75% of the power needs of Seriti’s Mpumalanga coal mines at significantly less cost than Eskom’s power.
“There is [many] detractors who don’t believe there is wind in Mpumalanga,” said Peter Venn, CEO of Seriti Green.
“This is the heart of energy in South Africa, and it is important to transform the landscape in the next two to three decades to make a conscious transition to renewable energy.
“Working with our partners, both Standard Bank and RMB, we are very confident that we are going to have a successful wind farm in Mpumalanga,” he said.
The announcement comes less than six months after Seriti Resources, one of South Africa’s largest coal miners, announced the acquisition of Windlab and the launch of Seriti Green.
With the terms and conditions signed for the PPA, construction of the R4 billion project is expected to start in the first half of this year.
The 155MW mark the first phase of a larger 900MW project that Seriti Green intends to build over the next three years at an estimated cost of R25 billion.
The overall project will also include 800MWh of storage capacity.
Some R1.5 billion of the R4 billion cost for Phase 1 will finance the network infrastructure needs of the project. Approximately half of this infrastructure will be owned and maintained by Seriti Green, while the other half will form part of Eskom’s national grid.
“We want to participate in the most progressive and collaborative way possible in the Just Energy Transition facing this continent and the journey we are on,” said Seriti Resources Mike Teke.
“It is imperative that as we try to embark on this journey, we take the communities in which we operate [and] we carry this country’s strategy to make sure we are energy independent, have energy security, and it is affordable and accessible to all.”
When asked about the potential for Seriti Green to participate in green hydrogen developments, Venn said the immediate focus is on getting electrons into the grid to alleviate the economically crippling loss of charge in South Africa.
While there are possible short-term solutions to ease the intensity of load shedding on the economy, the only long-term solution is new power generation projects like this one, Venn said.
“The only way for us to have security of supply in the [next five to 15 years] It’s a new generation,” he said.
