Cape Town blown away by wind energy

By Nadia Samie

The City of Cape Town has entered into a 20-year commitment to purchase and utilise wind energy from a farm in Darling on the West Coast — the problem being that the wind farm is yet to be built.

Phase one of the wind farm project has been given national pilot project status by the Department of Minerals and Energy. Darling Wind Power chief executive Hermann Oelsner told Sapa that the project would cost in the region of R70 million.

In a statement issued at the signing ceremony, Cape Town mayor Hellen Zille said that she envisioned the city becoming a world leader in sustainable energy.

Consumers will have to pay extra for wind energy, and the opportunity to play a part in overcoming global warming in the future. The wind-generated electricity will cost residential consumers 25c more than the 40c a kilowatt hour that they are currently paying.

The project is funded by Danish Development Aid, the Central Energy Fund, equity shareholders including the Central energy Fund, and the Development Bank of South Africa, Sapa reports. The city is the farms first client.