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Africa Outlook spoke to InnoWind, the company behind Grassridge Wind Farm
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Windsof Change FOR SOUTH AFRICA AND THE FORMER HOMELANDS
with the construction of its 60mw grassridge wind power project now well underway, Innowind now strives to decentralise the focus of renewable energy development away from existing hubs of economic activity and towards the much poorer eastern reaches of the Province Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Rahim Ali
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nnowind, the lead partner of the grassridge wind Farm, is a developer who thrives off challenge in order to stand out in the growing renewable energy sector in South africa. as a developer, investor, owner and operator of wind farms, Innowind strives to bring a new chapter to the industry by taking their experience from the grassridge project near the city of Port Elizabeth and replicating it in some of the poorest regions of South africa’s former bantustans (or homelands). “Few renewable energy companies have ventured into the Former Homelands, where spending development capital is a risk in a
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Aggreko
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ith over 50 years’ experience, Aggreko is the world leader in
the supply of temporary power and temperature control solutions. The company provides critical power or cooling solutions for customers who either need these services very rapidly or for an indeterminate amount of time.
Aggreko supplies end-to-end, turn-key solutions which typically include the full design, commissioning, operation and demobilisation of the installations it provides to its customers. Examples
ownership stakes. A precursor to region where the concept of ‘private migrating this model to the forlorn property’ is still novel. Nevertheless rural regions of the Former Homelands. we are putting considerable effort “We had a vision of entering the more into figuring that out and hopefully decentralising the over-concentration infrastructure-rich areas of the Eastern Cape Province first, such as around Port of wind farm development activity Elizabeth and East that is currently London. Grassridge taking place in is not far from Port and around the Elizabeth; it is in a existing energy and highly developed Grassridge wind economic hubs of fa r m W i l l p o w e r t h e part of the Province the country,” says e q u i va l e n t e l e c t r i c i t y and last month it Martin Webb, CEO needs of around saw the erection of InnoWind. of the first Vestas The Grassridge V-112 3 MW model Wind Farm, near the turbines on the city of Port Elizabeth, African continent. is a product of middle income But we now want to InnoWind’s initial households move this to where forays into proving development is the sustainability sorely needed, in the of renewable eastern end of this power projects windy Province,” with significant cites Webb. community-
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would be the supply of power to an industrial site which needs to service its permanent power supply, commissioning power for a wind farm or providing a major sporting event with power and cooling systems.
Customers utilising Aggreko’s power and temperature control solutions range from the renewable sector, oil & gas, heavy industry, manufacturing, mining, major events and utilities.
For further details, contact: T: +27 (0)11 357 8900 E: rentals@aggreko.co.za W: www.aggreko.co.za
Power and Temperature Control Solutions for the Renewable Sector Aggreko provides temporary power and temperature control solutions for your renewable project. We recognise that the lifecycle of wind or solar farm construction, commissioning and maintenance is time constrained. Our rental equipment meets your temporary power requirements through every stage of your development. Whether you require it for a wind or solar farm, our considerable experience of both sectors ensures we will provide the most appropriate, innovative and cost efficient solution to meet every demand wherever and whenever you need it.
Aggreko, Power and Temperature Control Specialists for Utilities Aggreko Energy Rental SA (Pty) Ltd. T: +27 11 357 8900 E: rentals@aggreko.co.za Durban +27 31 534 6700
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Port Elizabeth +27 41 101 0250
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Aggreko operates from over 200 locations throughout the world. For the location nearest you, please go to: www.aggreko.com/contact
Nairobi +254 707 000 888
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PPC CEMENT Grassridge Wind Farm on-track to begin electricity production in 2015
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he farm is owned by Grassridge Wind Power which comprises of InnoWind, the Industrial Development Corporation and the Grassridge Winds of Change Community Trust. This was the first wind energy project to be established at the site of a working limestone quarry, PPC’s Grassridge Quarry in Port Elizabeth. Construction of the wind farm formed part of PPC’s long-term rehabilitation plans for the mine and is the first of many steps in PPC’s undertaking to procure power from renewable sources.
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Why Invest in the Former Homelands?
80% In excess of
o f s ta f f e m p l o y e d on site are from the neighbouring communities
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The Eastern side of the Eastern Cape is empty of renewable developments, even though there is an abundance of wind, access to the electricity grid and good road networks. The Former Homelands of the Eastern Cape is an area that is overlooked and ignored by developers, largely due to its unique non-investor friendly land tenure legislation, due to a legacy of the apartheid era land Acts. Because of this, these regions remain as some of the poorest in the country, with little private sector investment in any sector, renewables included. There are various potential challenges which can put investors off the area, but Webb was keen to emphasise that both the Department of Energy as well as the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform have embraced the possibility of
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We are one of few developers investing time and money working in the Eastern end of the Eastern Cape Province because of the perceived development risks associated with land tenure here”
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renewable projects coming here: “we have proved that it electricity produced will be is possible for wind sold to eskom with energy to become a reality in the Former Homelands by putting forward fully developed project proposals to of the benefits the DoE in transkei directed to the and Ciskei in both motherwell last year’s and this community year’s (August 2014) throuGh the GrassridGe REIPPP bid windows. winds of chanGe we want to change community trust the historical misperception that investment in this part of South africa is not possible,” webb continues: “we are one of the very few developers investing time and money working in the Eastern end of the Eastern Cape Province because of the perceived development risks associated with land tenure here, and we are doing so by ensuring traditional communities receive meaningful equity participations in the projects they host on their communal land, as opposed to the merely symbolic project participations seen in newly proposed projects elsewhere in the country. If our bids were selected in this competitive process, they would truly be ‘first of a kind’ for this government procurement programme.”
26%
Building the African success story one partnership at a time.
At PPC, our transformation philosophy begins with our people and the communities in which we operate. www.ppc.co.za
community-owned land heralds advantages Private property laws are different here to the rest of Sa, which can dissuade most investors as land is community-owned. Innowind, however, decided it was going to try and figure out how to accomplish this and webb says that with the help of the Department of Rural Development & land Reform (DRDlR) they have been able to make waves in the Former Homelands: “there was no roadmap to guide us through this process, it took us years. But without investors like us, these areas of the Eastern Cape would remain empty of investment,” he adds: “we want to demonstrate in no uncertain terms to the government that a renewable energy project can in fact be developed here, and that the roadmap we’ve developed will
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GRASSRIDGE WIND FARM PROJECT DETAILS
The Grassridge wind farm is owned by Grassridge Wind Power, a REIPPP project comprising local wind energy developer InnoWind with a 60% interest in the project, the Industrial Development Corporation with 14%, and the Grassridge Winds of Change Community Trust – representing the interests of the local Motherwell township community – with 26%.
be open to any other developer with the generalised rural poverty that similar determination.” persists; boosting general welfare and As the land is community owned, it making a difference on a local scale to brings with it advantages for the local real people through rental payments, public. “The Former Transkei and Ciskei dividends, and revenue contributions. are subsistence based regions that Support from the House of are hugely dependent on social grants Traditional Leaders from the government for survival. This means that if we are successful in our The Eastern Cape House of Traditional efforts, the land rental we would pay in Leaders (ECHTL) has played a these areas will go to the community significant role in convincing InnoWind for at least 20 years. In addition we to invest in the region by facilitating have made sure that the communities introductions with traditional own a significant equity stake in the leaders but also by educating local wind projects themselves. communities on the positive spin-offs On top of this, of a wind farm. once the wind “The ECHTL are the farm begins to decision-makers Limestone from the generate electricity, in the area. When Pretoria Portland a percentage of the conducting our C e m e n t (P P C) c o m pa n y quarry is turned turnover is set aside initial research into cement used in for local SMME into the Former the concrete mix to developments and Homelands, they make the turbine socio-economic opened the first f o u n d at i o n s development.” doors for us, It seems that the making the initial pros outweigh the introduction cons for developing to various local infrastructure in community leaders these impoverished whose land we areas as the would be seeking upliftment impact is to rent given greater than in any favourable wind,” other region given explains Webb.
LIMESTONE
Kevin Minkoff, Project Manager for GRWF
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LOCATION Eastern Cape, South africa. Built on a limestone mine owned by cement company PPC. INVESTMENT Estimated at R1.2 billion CONSTRUCTION 20 months COMMERCIAL OPERATION on or before June 2015, grid-linked by November 2014 WIND TURBINES Vestas V112 3 MW turbines, 61.5 mw installed capacity FIRST TURBINE UP 15th August 2014
Educating rural communities on the advantages of hosting a wind farm on their land was an integral and vital part of the process for Innowind to invest its capital at risk; a process in which they also received the help of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation. “we have a rigorous community consultation programme, implement several legal processes and conduct environmental impact studies in order to ensure that the community is kept informed of the wind farm and its associated impact on the environment. as you can imagine, it was a slow and arduous process to inform numerous communities and villages located over vast areas about what this opportunity could mean for them, to which they seemed extremely keen and responded positively and travelled long distances to attend.� with the construction of grassridge far to the west, and two more projects well underway, Innowind strives to decentralise the focus on renewable energy, bringing wind technology to the more impoverished areas of the Eastern Cape; a feat which has never been done before and which promises to encourage other investors to explore and venture in the most Eastern parts of the Province.
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