Half of the turbines up at 140-MW S African wind park

Mainstream Renewable Power said today 30 wind turbine generators (WTGs) have been erected at its 140-MW Loeriesfontein wind farm in South Africa.

The ZAR-3.5-billion (USD 244.2m/EUR 226.7m) facility will use 61 units of Siemens (ETR:SIE) turbines, with Siemens Wind Power and sub-contractors Fairwind and BMS being responsible for the installation. The same teams were also in charge of the lifting for the now-operational 80-MW Noupoort wind farm. Next year they will do the same for the 140-MW Khobab wind project.

Mainstream said the Loeriesfontein project is achieving an average of 2.5 WTG liftings per week. The blades are connected to the rotor at ground level before being lifted to the top of the turbine tower.

The next major construction milestone for the project is the arrival of the main transformer and the energisation of the substation, the Ireland-based renewables developer said.

Once fully operational, Loeriesfontein will be producing about 563.5 GWh per year. The project consortium is led by Lekela Power, a 60/40 joint venture (JV) between private equity firm Actis and Mainstream.

(ZAR 10 = USD 0.70/EUR 0.65)

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