ENGIE inaugurates West Coast One wind farm

ENGIE, through its subsidiary Aurora Wind Power, has inaugurated the 94 MW West Coast One wind farm in South Africa’s Western Cape Province.

West Coast 1 will allow for the offset of an estimated 5.6 million tonnes of CO2 over the 20-year duration of its Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). 

West Coast 1 achieved commercial operation of the forty seven 2 MW wind turbines on schedule in June 2015. Total investment was approximately US$200 million, with debt financing by a group of South African banks. 

The project is part of South Africa’s successful Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme to help curb its reliance on coal for electricity and contribute towards carbon emission reduction objectives.To date, South Africa has procured more than 5,000 MW from solar and wind projects out of the 7,000 MW of renewable energy projects initially planned by the end of 2016. The government recently announced that it wants to add an additional 6,300MW to the programme.

Aurora Wind Power is owned by ENGIE (43%) and its South African partners Investec Bank Limited (34.5%) and KTH (20%). The remaining 2.5% has been allocated to a Community Trust, for the purpose of developing and sustaining the surrounding community. Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman and CEO of ENGIE:

“South Africa is a key growth region on the African continent where ENGIE has an established presence with 460 MW in operation, 700 MW under construction and a substantial development pipeline. We have the ambition to remain South Africa’s leading IPP, focusing on clean and renewable energy to contribute to the sustainable economic development of the country and its people.”