African renewable energy developer Lekela has brought online the 140MW Kangnas wind farm in South Africa.
The company said that commercial operations at Kangnas, which is situated just over 50km east of the town of Springbok in the Nama Khoi municipality of the Northern Cape, marks the completion of all five wind farms in a Lekela-led consortium across South Africa.
Together, these projects total over 600MW and will provide electricity to up to 485,000 South African homes over the next 20 years.
Construction of Kangnas started in 2018 and has been achieved with 50% of the content manufactured locally in South Africa, including the site’s two transformers.
The wind farm also committed to drive local job creation on top of manufacturing, providing over 550 jobs at the height of the project’s construction, Lekela said.
Kangnas features 61 Siemens Gamesa 2.3-108 turbines.
Lekela chief executive Chris Antonopoulos said: “Just five years after Lekela was created, this is a significant milestone for us all.
“Kangnas completes what only existed as ideas on a piece of paper just a few years ago.
“We now have over 600MW of wind power in operation, which will supply clean electricity to hundreds of thousands of South Africans, at an affordable price for the next two decades.
“Our completed portfolio places Lekela firmly as one of the leading providers of clean, renewable energy in the country, and across the African continent more broadly.
“Kangnas’ success supporting local manufacturing and jobs is an indicator of how low-carbon technologies can drive renewed economic growth in the wake of Covid.
“No other source of energy has the pace of development, nor the backing of governments, communities and companies that wind and solar do.
“We have to capitalise on this appetite to ensure the number of Africans without access to electricity continues to fall, not rise, in the next decade.”