Australian Windlab seeks to add African wind projects of up to 100 MW - report

Apr 11, 2014 - Australia’s Windlab Systems has recognised substantial opportunities for investments in Sub-Saharan Africa wind projects of up to 100 MW and has started identifying “the most financially viable sites”, according to its chief executive officer.

“We are seeking to explore these opportunities in the next few years”, CEO Roger Price told Clean Energy Pipeline in an interview. He expects the initial projects to be in the 50 MW to 100 MW range and to have their financial close between 2016 and 2017.

The wind power developer has so far achieved a financial close for two South African projects with an aggregate capacity of 230 MW and is now targeting other African markets. Windlab’s global development portfolio includes over 40 projects exceeding 7 GW in total.

The company is utilising its own atmospheric modelling and wind energy assessment system to determine which sites have high wind power potential. Its head noted that “the entire eastern corridor from Zambia and Mozambique all the way up to Kenya has a very good wind resource”.

Price went on to say that in growth markets there may be more sovereign risk but, at the same time, less political risk. He believes that certain African countries could launch reverse auction schemes like South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP), which aims to add 3,725 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2016.

The CEO noted that it was not easy to arrange project funding from commercial banks. Still, he anticipates multilateral support agencies to help raise the availability of debt for local wind schemes.

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