Loeriesfontein’s two sister wind farms, Loeriesfontein Wind Farm and Khobab Wind Farm, have commenced with Grid Code testing as they head into the last phase of construction, before they reach Commercial Operations Date in less than two months from now.

Before a wind farm can be connected to the country’s national energy grid for commercial operations it must be tested to certify that it complies with both performance requirements and the grid code. In order to do this, a sufficient steady wind is required to carry out a full test of the performance and compliance of the wind farm to the grid code under representative conditions.  “During the grid code testing period, the project team verify the response of the wind farms are in accordance with the latest grid code considering the local wind and grid conditions,” explained Kevin Foster, Country Construction Manager for Mainstream Renewable Power.

Foster, who was previously Project Manager for Droogfontein Solar Power, explained, “The existence of sufficient wind resource is a greater challenge for wind farm grid code testing. Solar power plant resource is more predictable as most days offer steady conditions, even passing clouds help to test ramp up and down rates”.

The construction of these BW3 wind farms commenced during September 2015 and have to-date run on time, with a number of the construction milestones being reached early.   Loeriesfontein Wind Farm and Khobab Wind Farm also recently celebrated over 2million hours without a single lost-time-incident during their construction period that commenced in September 2015, an incredible achievement for a project of this scale.

16 October 2017