South Africa’s 5 biggest wind farms
Four of South Africa’s five largest wind farms are all located in the Northern Cape and have a combined capacity of over 550MW, according to the Department of Energy’s IPP Projects website.
South Africa has 34 wind farms, all of which are located in one of the three Cape Provinces and offer a combined capacity of over 3,300MW to the country’s grid.
At that capacity, wind power significantly contributes to South Africa’s energy needs. Still, it is not yet at the level of solar power, as the country’s solar plants total more than 4,400MW.
Although most major wind farms are in the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape has the most, with 16. The Northern Cape has 12, and the Western Cape has 6.
The three largest wind farms in South Africa, all located in the Northern Cape, each have a capacity of 147MW. They are the Karusa Wind Farm, the Roggeveld Wind Farm, and the Soetwater Wind Farm.
When travelling by road, these three wind farms are all within 40 kilometres of one another. Karusa and Soetwater are in the Northern Cape, whereas Roggeveld is in the Western Cape.
The Department of Energy’s IPP Projects website lists these farms as having lower capacity than the companies that constructed them do. The latter will be used in this comparison.
Roggeveld Wind Farm is located near Laingsburg, Matjiesfontein, and Sutherland, on the border of the Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces.
Red Rocket says the facility can produce around 613GWh of energy annually, enough to power just over 49,000 homes.
Roggeveld Wind Farm. Credit: Red Rocket
The Karusa Wind Farm, also a 147MW facility, was built by Enel Green Power and is located in the Karoo Hoogland District, Northern Cape, near the town of Sutherland.
The wind farm generates 500GWh of energy per year using Vestas V136-4.2MW wind turbines, which Enel says can power just over 74,000 households yearly.
Enel, which received the tender from the South African government for the farm in 2015, also notes that these are the largest turbines used in Africa to date.
Construction of the wind farm began in April 2019 and was finally completed in June 2022.
Karusa Wind Farm. Credit: Enel Green Power
The Soetwater Wind Farm, also constructed by Enel Green Power, is located roughly 26 kilometres from the Karusa Wind Farm by road.
Like Karusa, Enel lists the plant as having a capacity of 147MW, producing 585GWh of energy per year. This is enough to power 67,900 households annually.
As with the other Enel projects, Karusa’s construction began in 2019 and was completed in July 2022.
Soetwater Wind Farm. Credit: Enel Green Power
The Oyster Bay Wind farm is located just outside of Humansdorp, near St. Francis Bay. It consists of 41 turbines generating 568GWh of energy per year.
According to Enel Green Power, which also built this plant, this is enough to power just under 80,000 households per year.
The plant’s construction began in 2019, and by 2021, the project was complete.
Oyster Bay Wind Farm. Credit: Enel Green Power
Longyuan Mulilo Green Energy De Aar 2 North Wind Energy Facility is located in the Pixley Ka Seme district near De Aar.
The project is a partnership between Longyuan Power, a subsidiary of China Energy Investment, and South African energy developer Mulilo.
It boasts 96 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 140MW.
Longyuan Mulilo Green Energy De Aar 2 North Wind Energy Facility. Credit: Climate Positive
South Africa’s five largest wind farms are summarised in the table below.
| Wind farm | Province | Local community | Capacity (MW) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roggeveld Wind Farm | Northern Cape | Sutherland | 147 |
| Karusa Wind Farm | Northern Cape | Sutherland | 147 |
| Soetwater Wind Farm | Northern Cape | Sutherland | 147 |
| Oyster Bay Wind Farm | Eastern Cape | Oyster Bay | 140 |
| Longyuan Mulilo Green Energy De Aar 2 North Wind Energy Facility | Northern Cape | De Aar | 140 |
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