Renewable roll-out in South Africa

ACCIONA Energy’s first renewable facilities in South Africa are already a reality. The photovoltaic plant at Sishen and the wind farm at Gouda are connected to the grid, thus achieving the initial goals of the company in this country, in which it now plans to develop further outstanding business opportunities. Both projects are owned by a con sortium, in which ACCIONA is the ma jority partner, including South African company, Aveng, and two community development bodies. The consortium was selected for the project in Round 2 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Pro-gramme (REIPPPP) established by the South African Government. The plants total 232 MW in capacity, making South Africa ACCIONA Energy’s fifth biggest country in terms of renewable energy installation after Spain, the USA, Mexico and Australia.

250 hectares

The photovoltaic plant at Sishen (94.3 MWp) is the biggest built by ACCIONA worldwide. It has 470 horizontal solar tracking structures, made up of 319,600 photovoltaic modules. If these were laid out in a straight line they would extend 327 km. They occupy a surface area of 250 hectares in the municipality of Dibeng (Northern Cape). It is the photovoltaic power station producing the most electrical energy on the African continent. As well as having vast solar resources in the re gion, the Sishen plant’s solar tracking structure allows greater production than from a fixed installation. It is forecast to generate annually up to 216 GWh (millions of kilowatt-hours), a figure that has been adjusted upwards since the station was com missioned at the end of 2014.

AW3000 turbines

The 138 MW Gouda wind farm (135.2 MW net) came on stream this summer. Located in the munici pality of Drakenstein (Western Cape), it consists of 46 AW100/3000 wind turbine generators – ACCIONA Windpower technology – with 100-meter diameter rotors on 100-meter-high concrete towers. The high winds in the area of the facility will allow it to produce some 423 GWh, equivalent to electricity consumption by 200,000 South African homes. It is ACCIONA’s first wind farm on the African continent.

319,600 photovoltaic modules generating energy for 100,000 homes

Promising horizons

The launch of two significant projects in South Africa linked to Round 2 of the renewable energy support programme looks like the beginning of a business success story in the country. In the turbine marketing section, ACCIONA Windpower wind generators are incorporated in several wind projects selected in Round 4 of the programme. Over the months to come, the terms of the respective contracts have to be negotiated, but it is reasonable to expect that the agreements will be formalized before the end of this year. These wind farms total more than 500 MW, all of them with AW3000 turbines.

Some of the wind farm projects involved will include turnkey construction by ACCIONA Energy as well as the supply of turbines. As for own investment, the Company will compete with projects in Round 5 and could win a wind farm project through its bid in what is known as Round 4.5, an initiative that will permit the presentation and selection of projects that were rejected in the first four rounds of the REIPPPP. ACCIONA Windpower will also continue to deploy its commercial activity so that the AW3000 turbines figure in the projects selected in these rounds. This all makes South Africa an increasingly important country in the future business strategy of ACCIONA’s energy division.

South Africa is already ACCIONA’s 5th biggest country in terms of renewable energy installations

OUR FIRST WIND FARM IN AFRICA

• NAME: Gouda wind farm
• CAPACITY: 138 MW (135,2 MW netos)
• LOCATION: Drakenstein, Western Cape
• WIND TURBINES: 46 AW 100/3000
• TECHNOLOGY: ACCIONA Windpower
• TOWERS: Concrete 100 m high
• ESTIMATED PRODUCTION: 423 GWh
• EQUIVALENT CONSUMPTION: 200.000 homes
• CO2 EMISSIONS AVOIDED: 406.000 t /year

Turnkey solar thermal projects

ACCIONA Industrial has been carrying out renewable energy projects in South Africa since 2013. It currently forms part of the consortium performing the EPC contract for the solar thermal plant at Bokpoort in Northern Cape, which should be complete by the end of 2015. This is a plant of 55 MW gross with two Thermal Energy Storage (TES) plants of 36/40 m diameter and 18 m high, using molten salts. It provides 9.3 hours of operation (1,300 MWht). The plant uses cylindrical parabolic technology, 180 Senertrough loops, 150-m collectors and Siemens turbines. The execution of the works involves the movement of 600,000 m3 of earth, 9,000 founda tions and 200,000 inches of welding. Bokpoort is the second largest solar thermal plant built by the company outside Spain, after the 160 MW one at Ouarzazate in Morocco. The commitment of ACCIONA Industrial to develop renewable energy in South Africa was recently rewarded when its consortium was chosen as the preferred bidder for the execution of the EPC contract for the future 100 MW Kathu solar thermal plant.

ACCIONA’S BIGGEST PHOTOVOLTAIC STATION:

• NAME: Sishen PV plant
• CAPACITY: 94,3 MWp (75 MW nominal)
• LOCATION: Dibeng, Northern Cape
• SURFACE AREA: 250 Ha
• Nº FOLLOWERS: 470
• Nº PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES: 319.600
• ESTIMATED PRODUCTION: 216 GWh
• EQUIVALENT CONSUMPTION: 100.000 homes
• CO2 EMISSIONS AVOIDED: 208.000 t / year