Siemens has secured a contract to deliver wind turbines for three projects with 360 megawatts of total capacity developed by Mainstream Renewable Power-led consortium in the South Africa province of Northern Cape.
The company will supply 157 sets of its 2.3-MW turbines at the Khobab, Loeriesfontein 2 and Noupoort wind farms. The contract includes a service and maintenance agreement for a 10-year period.
The 140-MW Khobab and Loeriesfontein 2 wind farms are both located in the Namakwa District Municipality, and the 80-MW Noupoort wind farm is located in Umsobomvu Local Municipality.
The projects will be equipped with the Siemens SWT-2.3-108 wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 108 meters and towers with a hub height of 99.5 meters. Turbine installation will start in August 2015, with commissioning of the projects scheduled from early 2016 to the end of 2017. The towers will be sourced primarily in South Africa.
Mainstream and its partners have closed financing for the three projects. The joint venture partners for the projects include Actis, Thebe Investment Corp., the IDEAS Managed Fund, Futuregrowth Asset Management and Genesis Eco-Energy in partnership with Lereko Metier Sustainable Capital, and local community members through established trusts.
In October 2013, the consortium was awarded the contracts for the three wind farms by the Department of Energy in South Africa under the third round of its Renewable Energy Procurement Programme.