- A Chinese energy company that is pursuing the use of clean energy sources has several renewable energy projects in the pipeline for development in various provinces in South Africa.
- These projects are in line with government’s efforts to move towards clean energy and fulfil the country’s commitment to global climate change.
- The company, Longyuan Power Group, prioritises wind, solar projects and other complementing energy sources.
“We have done the preliminary assessment for the project already. Our goal and mission is to deal with climate change. We are promoting energy transformation. If we can successfully transfer from coal power to renewable energy, that’s a great contribution to climate change reduction. This policy complies with the carbon neutral policy globally and China’s policy,” Longyuan Power Group Vice President Jing Ding said on Tuesday.
Addressing members of the South African media at the Longyuan Power Group offices in Beijing, Ding said South Africa is one of the countries they are prioritising for future development.
Longyuan Power Group operates four wind power projects in three countries, with a total capacity of 420MW.
They include 99MW in the Dufferin Wind Power Project in Canada, 76MW at the Yuzhne Wind Power Project in Ukraine and 244.5MW in the De Aar I and II Wind Power projects in South Africa.
The De Aar I and II Wind Power projects in South Africa were put into operation in 2017.
“We started the South Africa project in 2013 with the preliminary phases… We did the assessments and designed the project. We worked very closely with local partners to support the local economic development. We started operating in 2017 and the project was financed by a commercial bank,” Ding said.
During the construction period, the company created more than 700 jobs in the local community.
Longyuan Power is also providing training to Eskom in terms of renewable energy projects development, construction, operation and maintenance. In August 2024, the representatives of Eskom visited the De Aar wind farm and learnt about the technology and operation of renewable projects.
“We are promoting renewable energy in developing countries in future and putting efforts in renewable energy development in South Africa and other developing countries. We believe the cost of renewable energy is reasonable compared to coal,” Ding said.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
