Perdekraal East Wind Farm commences commercial operations

We welcome the announcement yesterday (08 October 2020) that the Perdekraal East Wind Farm in the Western Cape has officially commenced its 20-year Commercial Operations period, now contributing 110MW of new wind power capacity to South Africa’s national grid. 

I visited the Perdekraal East Wind Farm in September to see the development of this utility-scale renewable energy project, which is a successful project in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) bid window 4.

The Perdekraal East Wind Farm is a great example of how private sector investment in renewable energy infrastructure can not only help to mitigate the medium-term impacts of load shedding but can also create jobs and grow the economy in the Western Cape.

And so, we continue to call on the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, to maintain the urgency required to ensure procurement and power purchase agreements are finalised to bring the REIPPP bid window 5 projects onto the grid, and we look forward to the Minister providing more clarity on when and how municipalities could also participate as purchasers of electricity where appropriate and not only Eskom, as has been the historical precedent.

Listen to the soundbyte from Minister Maynier