Richards Bay Wind Farm

Establishment of the R 1.2 billion Richards Bay Windfarm outside Empangeni, approximately 10km north west of Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal. The facility will cover an area encompassing 31 land parcels, and will host 31 wind turbines. The southern border of the land parcels are north of the centre of the town of Empangeni, with the majority of the facility occurring on the western side of the N2 highway. One land parcel involved is on the eastern side of the N2 highway, but no turbines are planned on this land parcel. On the northern side, the border of the facility roughly corresponds to the path of the Nseleni River. Each turbine will have a nominal power output ranging between 2 – 3.5 mega watts (MW). It is estimated that the total maximum potential output of the wind farm will be 115.5 MW. According to the current local grid constraints confirmed by Eskom, the proposed WEF installed capacity is limited to 108MW. The turbines will have a hub height of up to 120 meters high, with 3 blades each of up to 60 meters in length.