Image: RenewAfrica
EDF Renewables RSA, a subsidiary of Electricité de France (EDF), has connected its 34.5 MW Wesley-Ciskei Wind Power Station to South Africa’s power grid and will sell its generated electricity to the country’s national electric utility company, Eskom, under a 20-year Power Procurement Agreement.
The wind farm is situated in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, approximately 77km southwest of East London, and comprises ten V126-3.45 wind turbines, installed by Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems, each capable of generating 3.45 MW.
Project Manager for EDF Renewables RSA, Carl Wlotzka, said on 28 July, “We are now connected to the grid, which allows us to start commissioning the turbines and carry out reliability testing. Then we will prove compliance with the grid code (RETEC), which will be verified by Eskom, and then we will start commercial operations.”
Independent Power Producer, EDF, won the bid to design, fund, build, and operate the Wesley-Ciskei project in June 2015 during the fourth round of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement program. The company assigned its subsidiary, EDF Renewables RSA, to implement the project’s development. The engineering, procurement and construction contract was awarded to Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems.
The project was partly financed and supported by Power Africa – a U.S. initiative supporting the development of power projects in South Africa – through its local partner Standard Bank. Construction for the project began in September 2019 with commercial commissioning originally expected by September 2021.
