Power utility Eskom is decommissioning its Klipheuwel Wind Farm, on the West Coast near Cape Town.
Eskom says for the past 13 years, the wind farm served as a valuable research facility for wind energy technology and contributed 3MW to the Eskom plant mix.
With these objectives achieved and the new 100MW Sere Wind Farm delivering excellent results, the time has come to decommission the three wind turbines at Klipheuwel, says Eskom.
The decommissioning of the first turbine is schedule for today.
The Sere plant, which was unveiled in April last year, adds 100MW to the national power grid and will contribute to saving nearly six million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its 20-year expected operating life, with average annual energy production of about 298 000 megawatt hours - enough to supply about 124 000 standard homes.
In 2002, Eskom's resources and strategy division erected three wind turbines as a demonstration wind farm facility at Klipheuwel. The intent of the wind farm was to conduct research on the potential of wind energy as an electricity-generating option as well as to evaluate the different wind-based technologies and their economic viability.
In 2006, once the research was completed, the ownership of Klipheuwel Wind Farm was transferred to Peaking (Generation Division) to operate and maintain.
Eskom says the Klipheuwel Wind Farm provided an excellent platform for learning in this type of renewable technology. This learning has helped inform the business in its decision-making for other larger projects such as the Sere Wind Farm, it notes.
The parastatal adds that valuable operational and maintenance experience has also been gained through this facility.
Since the commercial operation of the facility, the plant has reached the end of its useful life and Eskom is decommissioning this demonstration facility.
One of the turbines will be used for practical training at the South African Renewable Technology Centre, the only renewables training facility in SA, in Bellville, Cape Town. There will be an opportunity for learning to continue and to broaden the skills base in SA and help enable development in the industry.
The remainder of the wind farm (land and two Vestas wind turbines) will be disposed of following Eskom's commercial processes.
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