Enel has started construction in South Africa of its Karusa and Soetwater wind farms, with an installed capacity of 140MW each. The plants, which are both located in the Karoo Hoogland District, Northern Cape province, are expected to be completed by the end of 2021. Karusa and Soetwater will involve an investment of over €200m each.
Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of Enel Green Power (EGP), said: “With the start of construction of Karusa and Soetwater, we are now building five wind projects in South Africa, for a total installed capacity of around 700MW, which is further evidence of our ability to supply emission-free energy to this country, supporting its transition towards renewables.”
Karusa and Soetwater are the fourth and fifth wind projects that Enel Green Power has started building in South Africa since the beginning of this year.
Once fully operational, Karusa and Soetwater are each expected to generate over 585GWh annually, each avoiding the annual emission of around 611,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. The wind farms will be supported by a 20-year power supply agreement with the South African energy utility Eskom, in line with the government’s Independent Power Producer (IPP) programme.
During the construction phase of Karusa and Soetwater, EGP is expected to utilise state-of-the-art tools and practices, such as advanced digital platforms and software solutions that will monitor and remotely support all site activities and plant commissioning, digital tools to perform quality controls on site and smart tracking of wind turbine components. These processes and tools are aimed at enabling swifter, more accurate and reliable data collection, improving the quality of construction and facilitating communication between on-site and off-site teams. Furthermore, EGP is committed to employing local staff as well as hiring local contractors in the construction process, with the aim to promote meaningful socio-economic and enterprise development.
