Karusa wind farm in South Africa has entered into commercial operation. The South African subsidiary of independent power producer (IPP) Enel Green made the announcement and said the farm will inject 147 MW into country’s national power grid.
The facility under construction since 2019, sits in Laingsburg in the Western Cape Province. Enel Green Power awarded construction of the farm to Vestas Wind Systems. The Danish company installed 36 V136-4.2MW generators. These wind turbines are capable of delivering an annual output estimated by Enel at 500 GWh. The electricity produced is fed into the grid of the South African public utility Eskom, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
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Investment
US $200M was invested in the development and construction of the wind farm. The IPP was supported by US $951M in financing from Nedbank and Absa Bank. These two financial institutions, which are very active in the renewable energy sector in South Africa, granted this credit to Enel for the realization of a 700 MW portfolio in the Nation.
Under a joint venture agreement signed by Enel in 2021, the Karusa wind farm is co-owned by investor Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Enel was awarded the concession in 2016, as part of the fourth bidding window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPP).
Under the South African government program, Enel is building or operating the Nxuba (148 MW), Oyster Bay (148 MW), Garob (145 MW), Nojoli (88 MW) and Soetwater (147 MW) wind farms. Together with other solar projects, the Italian IPP has a portfolio of 1,257 MW in South Africa.
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