Eskom Receives Loan for Wind Farm Project

Eskom, the power utility in South Africa has entered into a financing framework agreement with France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD) for a loan to partially finance the development of a new wind farm project. Eskom did not reveal the final cost for the project but its loan from AFD is said to be worth €100 million. Under the AFD loan Eskom must make an effort to provide for local industries and labor in the tender structure.

The wind farm is set to be built on the Western Cape near the town of Koekenaap and will provide 100 MW of renewable energy to the power-challenged country. The project is expected to be up and running in early 2010. According to Engineering News, the environmental and commercial activities relating to the development have been under way for some time and construction should start late in 2008.

Eskom said that it had spent time evaluating the various wind technologies available as well as assessing the various associated issues such as storage systems and costs and performance data at its wind energy demonstration facility near Klipheuwel outside of Cape Town. It added that the 100-MW commercial project was a first step in applying the information gained, and formed part of its overall renewable-energy strategy. The company will most likely use the horizontal-type turbines with pitch control, gearbox reduction drives, and induction generators, with unit sizes of between 1.5 MW and 2.5 MW, which will require the installation of around 50 wind units.