Vestas has secured a 373MW turbine order for three wind projects in South Africa.
Independent power producer Red Rocket has placed the order for its Brandvalley, Rietkloof and Wolf wind parks, to be located in Western Cape and Eastern Cape.
The contract includes the supply and installation of 64 V150-4.5MW wind turbines, 12 V163-4.5MW units and five V162-6.2MW Enventus machines.
Vestas has also entered into a 15-year service agreement with Red Rocket.
The wind farms will start entering production in 2024.
Red Rocket CEO Matteo Brambilla said: “Red Rocket has been investing and supporting South Africa’s electricity crisis for more than a decade and with a portfolio of more than 1000MW of wind, hydro and solar projects under development, in construction or in operation in the country, we are delighted to continue making a significant contribution to South Africa and the rest of the continent.”
The order includes the first installations globally of the V163-4.5MW wind turbine from Vestas’ 4MW platform.
Featuring an 18% increase in swept area, the V163-4.5MW has a large rotor-size-to-rating ratio resulting in a higher capacity factor, enabling up to 10% increase in annual energy production at park level compared to the V150-4.5MW, depending on site-specific conditions.
This increases power output at lower wind speeds significantly and improves predictability and stability in production, optimising the utilisation of the wind park as well as benefitting the energy grid.
“I would like to thank Red Rocket for the trust they have placed in Vestas’ latest evolution of technology,” said Vestas Sales & Business Development Senior Director, Malte Meyer.
“With three different wind turbine variants across platforms this order showcases that we are able to enhance the customer business case through optimising the layout on each wind project site with Vestas’ flexible and diverse product portfolio.
“We firmly believe that our partnership can make a significant contribution to a more reliable, affordable and sustainable energy mix in South Africa.”
Vestas has over 1.3GW of capacity either installed or under construction in the country.