Construction is progressing rapidly on the Overberg Wind Farm project in South Africa. Independent Power Producer (IPP) Red Rocket confirmed that it had reached financial close and commenced construction on Phase 2 of the project.
Phase 1 of the project located about 12 km outside Swellendam in the Western Cape, began construction in March 2025. It will contribute 242 MW of capacity and deliver around 750 GWh of power annually to Richards Bay Minerals.
The second phase will add 158 MW of capacity, with an expected annual energy output of 489 GWh. The electricity will be sold to Discovery Green and supplied via wheeling agreements to Impala Platinum, Foress Real Estate Investments, and Balwin Properties.
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Largest wind farm in South Africa
Once both phases are complete, the wind farm will have a total capacity of 400 MW, more than doubling the peak output of South Africa’s current largest wind farms, each rated at 147 MW. With an estimated annual output of 1,239 GWh, it will also rank as the world’s most productive wind farm with private offtakers.
The facility will feature 54 Goldwind GWH182/6.2 MW turbines and nine Goldwind GWH182/7.2 MW turbines. The 7.2 MW model matches the largest and most powerful onshore wind turbine in operation worldwide, while the 6.2 MW model surpasses the size and power of most turbines currently in South Africa.
When fully operational in early 2027, Overberg will be Africa’s second-largest wind farm, after Egypt’s 545 MW Zafarana Wind Farm. Globally, only nine countries including China, Egypt, Australia, Brazil, India, Norway, Romania, Sweden, and the UK have onshore wind farms of 400 MW or greater capacity.
The Overberg Wind Farm is backed by financing from Absa Bank, Standard Bank, and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Red Rocket is already a key player in South Africa’s renewable energy sector, with 4 GW of projects either operational, under construction, or nearing financial close. Its portfolio includes the 147 MW Roggeveld Wind Farm, as well as the Brandvalley and Rietkloof wind farms (each 144 MW). The company also operates the 275 MW Virginia Solar Park, which was the largest grid-connected solar project in the country when construction began in 2024.
Addressing environmental concerns, Red Rocket was the first IPP in South Africa to introduce an automated bird protection system that uses real-time detection to temporarily shut down turbines and safeguard vulnerable bird species. This system is already operational at Brandvalley and Rietkloof and will be installed on all new projects.
Looking ahead, the company is advancing the Wolf Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape, which will deploy innovative turbine technology optimised for medium-to-low wind conditions. It also secured 590 MW of capacity in the recently reallocated Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) Bid Window 7. This allocation includes a 210 MW Phase 4 expansion of the Virginia Solar Park and a 180 MW Phase 3 expansion of the Dwaalboom Solar project.
