Sere Wind Farm, Northern Cape
Sere Wind Farm, Northern Cape
One of the largest wind farms in Southern Africa with a production capacity of 100 MW. It was the first commercial-scale wind energy project financed by the World Bank Group under its Eskom Renewables Support Project.
Client: Siemens (for Eskom)
Contract value: R 203,000,000
Duration: 18 months
Completed: December 2014
Overview of the Project
One of the largest wind farms in Southern Africa with a production capacity of 100 MW. Situated on Gravewaterkop Farm in Skaapvlei, north of the mouth of the Olifants River, near Koekenaap The project cost R2.7 billion ($375 million). It was the first commercial-scale wind energy project financed by the World Bank Group under its Eskom Renewables Support Project. Eskom confirmed the plant as fully commissioned on 31 March 2015.
Scope of Work
Civils 2000 was subcontracted by Siemens to provide the infrastructure consisting of the wind turbine foundations, internal roads, cable trenching & sleeves, laydown areas, and crane hardstands to enable the installation of 46 wind turbines, each standing 115 m tall. Installed by Global Wind Service, the turbines were commissioned by Siemens and handed over to Eskom in 2014.
This project was Eskom’s first renewable energy site, providing 2.3 megawatts of electricity per turbine. We are proud to be involved in the development of renewable energy in South Africa.
Challenges & Successes
The civils construction work was straightforward but made more complicated by the volume of activity at each turbine site. Turbine sections, blades and materials made each site congested and required close monitoring and coordination.
The vastness of the site also created unique problems with the need for haul roads, and supervision required across multiple turbine sites.
However, the civils work was well managed and the coordination of work and logistics was closely controlled. The quality control on site was excellent and ensured that Civils 2000 was able to deliver the works on time and to specification without any issues.
