wind power - The African Mirror

Sep

2023

Wind Power Surge: South Africa leads the continent-wide trend

ELECTRICITY generated from wind farms is witnessing a surge in South Africa, with new data showing there are 34 operational wind farms in the country feeding more than 3400 MW to the national utility, Eskom, grid. MyBroadband, a South African ICT news platform, reports that the surge in volume and capacity is being driven primarily by Independent Power Producers, with only one of the 34 farms being state-owned. “The only Eskom-owned wind power station is the Sere Wind Farm near Vredendal in the Western Cape, which contributes roughly 105 MW,” MyBroadband reported. The progress made in wind energy is remarkable…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Solar and wind power could break the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam deadlock

ENVIRONMENT

FOR several years, political tensions between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been escalating in a conflict over the near-complete Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The GERD is Africa’s largest hydropower plant. It dams the Blue Nile river coming from Ethiopia’s highlands just before it crosses into Sudan where, after merging with the White Nile, it continues northwards to Egypt. SEBASTIAN STERL, Researcher, Energy & Climate, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Ethiopia needs GERD’s electricity to lift millions of citizens out of poverty. But Egypt is concerned by GERD’s consequences for its agriculture, which depends completely on Nile water. Sudan, meanwhile, sees both…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa urged to embrace wind power to create jobs and go green

ENVIRONMENT

KIM HARRISBERG WIND could power Africa's energy demands 250 times over and create jobs lost in the move away from fossil fuels but the continent has only tapped into 0.01% of its potential, wind experts have said. Wind projects are growing fast, with 724MW of new capacity added in 2020, bringing the total to 6468MW across Africa - equal to taking more than 2 million cars off the road, said the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), which represents the sector. "Now is the time to urgently scale-up wind power in the region ... as a driver of local jobs and…