The wind farms that will power 485,000 South African homes

[Bradley Prior]

The wind farms that will power 485,000 South African homes

A new 140MW wind farm in the Northern Cape is the final facility in a project that will provide power to 485,000 South African homes over the next 20 years.

 

[Lupus]

140MW that is really competitive I mean we would only need 13 of them to match Koeberg and that is when they are at peak. Looking at the daily updates from the Eskom Spokesperson our renewables in SA haven't peaked beyond 1300MW. Remember we average out at 30 000MW.

 

[G.A.S]

Something sounds off when someone says "will provide power to 485,000 South African homes over the next 20 years" as opposed to "will provide power to 485,000 South African homes for the next 20 years". Or is it just me?

 

[Peon]

I'd have to use coarse language to describe how big those turbine arms are. I knew they were big, didn't think so big.

 

[yebocan]

Something sounds off when someone says "will provide power to 485,000 South African homes over the next 20 years" as opposed to "will provide power to 485,000 South African homes for the next 20 years". Or is it just me?

Construction & Operations​

Kangnas Wind Farm has a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with Eskom as well as an Implementation Agreement with the Department of Energy.

Kangnas Wind Farm | Sustainable Wind Energy

kangnaswind.co.za

 

[G.A.S]

465,000 homes are for all of their wind farms. (Ok, the title said that, I missed it somehow.)

 

[Polymathic]

Eskom "Due to the lack winds, we will have to implement Stage 1 loadshedding"

 

[Death]

There is so much constant wind in PE and surround areas. Put a couple thousand up there and they will power half the country. What about the wind turbines installed at sea along the coast? (haven't heard anything about those in a while - not viable?)

 

[furpile]

We now have over 600MW of wind power in operation

That is the same capacity as 1 unit at any of the large coal plants. What would be interesting to see is what did all of these wind farms cost to build, vs 1 unit at Medupi/Kusile (total cost / 6). And also what is the average output from the 600MW installed capacity from these wind farms. That will give you an accurate comparison.

 

[K3NS31]

Wondering why they aren't adding batteries to this. That's more than enough energy generation for a decent peaker plant.

 

[DailyTech]

Is this for real ....

 

[RVQ]

Wondering why they aren't adding batteries to this. That's more than enough energy generation for a decent peaker plant.

My guess is as long as its generating power its supplying the grid no time to store it when the grid is always constrained

 

[K3NS31]

My guess is as long as its generating power its supplying the grid no time to store it when the grid is always constrained

I don't think it has to be either / or tho. Once the batteries are charged you're just using a little power to keep them topped up. Until they're needed at least.
It must work, since most solar and wind installations around the world either have batteries or are getting them. (Which makes sense - the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow, but if you store that energy you're sorted).

 

[Pythonista]

I'd have to use coarse language to describe how big those turbine arms are. I knew they were big, didn't think so big.

I do believe each blade has more surface area than a Boeing 747 wing.

 

[RVQ]

I don't think it has to be either / or tho. Once the batteries are charged you're just using a little power to keep them topped up. Until they're needed at least.
It must work, since most solar and wind installations around the world either have batteries or are getting them. (Which makes sense - the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow, but if you store that energy you're sorted).

But it does push up the cost significantly and if not needed why spend the money? If the national grid ever does have access generation then adding batteries for storage does indeed make sense, I however don't think that will be within the 20 year lifetime of this farm

 

[Johnatan56]

140MW that is really competitive I mean we would only need 13 of them to match Koeberg and that is when they are at peak. Looking at the daily updates from the Eskom Spokesperson our renewables in SA haven't peaked beyond 1300MW. Remember we average out at 30 000MW.

Not sure what you mean by the comment? That they should build more renewables/cheap solar and wind? Certainly.

I don't think it has to be either / or tho. Once the batteries are charged you're just using a little power to keep them topped up. Until they're needed at least.
It must work, since most solar and wind installations around the world either have batteries or are getting them. (Which makes sense - the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow, but if you store that energy you're sorted).

Batteries are usually there to smooth out voltage variation rather than to store for peak usage (for wind farms), would be interesting to know if these wind farms have battery banks on them or if Eskom feeds it to somewhere else with batteries (latter would be a bit strange).

 

[K3NS31]

But it does push up the cost significantly and if not needed why spend the money? snip...

Cos the wind doesn't always blow...
Also, you can pull electricity out of batteries as fast as you need, which is why this sort of setup is being used for peaker plants more and more. You normal grid has a spike in demand and you need a lot of power NOW. Batteries can respond instantly. Literally instantly.
Look up Hornsdale in Australia if you want more info - they've implemented this very effectively.

 

[TheJman]

This is amazing! Quick to install - not burning coal that causes untold number of deaths (which affects GDP from the perspective of health care costs and loss of income generation). Once up, you don't need to keep putting coal in to keep in running.

Yes, it's not always going to be windy, but we need to move past this thought process of, we need one solution to solve our power.. BS - we need a multi layer approach - wind, solar, nuclear, hydro and other renewable options - you don't want to rely on only one source - look at the mess that that has gotten us into now!

Hope!

 

[Shadowchaser1]

The dude said cheap energy, cost effective for 20 years. What is cost effective?

 

[grok]

Poor Eskom needs all the help they can get guys, just like government they struglle to run anything..