Cape Town’s mayoral committee has given a thumbs-up to the proposed Darling Wind Farm.
The city said in a news release that the committee has recommended to the council that the city enter into a power-purchase agreement with Darling Wind Farm.
The Darling Wind Farm is a R70-million national pilot project funded jointly by the Danish Development Aid, the Central Energy Fund and the Darling Independent Power Producing Company.
The project will open up opportunities for further wind-energy projects and ”green energy projects” both in the Western Cape and further afield.
It will also be an important step in assisting the city to reach its target of sourcing 10% of its overall energy requirements from sustainable sources by 2020.
Once the council has considered the committee’s recommendation, the way will be open for city customers to purchase green energy.
This will be marketed to ”willing buyers” at an initial premium of 25c per kilowatt-hour.
It is expected that the demand for green energy will outstrip the 13, 2 gigawatt-hours of energy that can be supplied yearly by the farm.
Darling Wind Farm is expected to start generation next year and the energy will be sold through RED1, the City’s electricity service provider. — Sapa