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Solar, biomass and wind energy systems are popping up all over the country and feeding clean energy into the strained electrical grid.
Journalist Jeffrey Barbee atop a wind turbine near Cookhouse, South Africa. Renewable energy in South Africa now count for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
By Jeffrey Barbee for the #keepitintheground campaign.
The howling wind drives the turbines, their blades bent back from the force as they spin in the evening light and send electricity to local villages in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
High up on the top of the turbine, local resident Lungela Vongu, dressed in a safety harness and hard hat leans far out over the 100 meter drop to check that the wind speed detector is working properly. “This wind farm is bringing a lot more jobs into this community for the people, without it there is no future here,” he says.
The Cookhouse wind farm is the biggest wind system built in Africa, with 66 turbines generating 138MW of clean power. It started feeding the grid at the end of 2014 and it is far from unique.
Although still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, South Africa has been quietly creating one of the world’s most progressive alternative energy plans. Solar, biomass and wind energy systems are popping up all over the country and feeding clean energy into the strained electrical grid.
“It is set to completely transform these deep rural communities in terms of healthcare, education, job creation and a raft of other interventions. All this while putting green electricity on the grid at affordable prices,” said Johan van den Berg, director of the South African Wind Energy Association.
Read the rest of the story on the Guardian website here.
Discover the unpublished images:
The 30 million dollar wind tower factory has just been finished outside Cape Town by European multinational GRI Renewable Industries in the township of Atlantis. The area has been severely economically depressed and the massive 12,000 square meter factory will directly employ 200 people building 150 South African wind towers per year. Renewable energy in South Africa now accounts for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
The Cookhouse Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape of the country is the biggest in Africa. It was built in only 11 months, and has 66 turbines generating 138 Mw of clean power. Renewable energy in South Africa now ccount for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
German engineers and their South African counterparts look over the building of the South African Renewable Energy Technology Center in Cape Town. The cutting-edge technology center will produce around 250 qualified technicians a year to run and maintain the renewable energy systems in the country. in South Africa renewables now account for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
The Cookhouse Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape of the country is the biggest in Africa. It was built in only 11 months, and has 66 turbines generating 138 Mw of clean power. Renewable energy in South Africa now accounts for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
Lungela Vongu, dressed in a safety harness and hard, hat works on the top of wind tower. The Cookhouse Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape of the country is the biggest in Africa. It was built in only 11 months, and has 66 turbines generating 138 Mw of clean power. Renewable energy in South Africa now ccount for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
Lungela Vongu, dressed in a safety harness and hard, hat works on the top of wind tower. The Cookhouse Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape of the country is the biggest in Africa. It was built in only 11 months, and has 66 turbines generating 138 Mw of clean power. Renewable energy in South Africa now ccount for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
View from the top of the wind nacelle. The Cookhouse Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape of the country is the biggest in Africa. It was built in only 11 months, and has 66 turbines generating 138 Mw of clean power. Renewable energy in South Africa now accounts for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
Greencape CEO Evan Rice in his office in Cape Town. Renewable energy in South Africa now accounts for about 1/10th of the country’s electricity supply after only three years of implementation.
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This report is made possible by a new Guardian and Alliance Earth Partnership.
Jeffrey Barbee is a photojournalist and award-winning film producer and director. He works for Global Post, presents the US national TV show Earth Focus for LinkTV and writes and photographs for the Guardian UK. His work also appears in the New York Times, the BBC, NOS Tv Holland, Smithsonian Magazine, RTL News, PBS, CBS, Al Jazeera, Time Magazine, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and others.
His 2012 film Creating a Climate For Change won best environmental film at the film festival of Colorado.
He is the Director of The High Cost Of Cheap Gas, a current feature film exposing the global gas industry.
He is the Director of Alliance Earth, a worldwide not-for-profit environmental and scientific reporting initiative and is a board member of the Mezimbite Forest Centre.
3 thoughts on “How Renewable Energy Is Quietly Stealing A March on Coal”
It cannot be stressed enough that the primary driving factor for the fact that wind and solar power are gaining on coal is because these clean and renewable sources of energy are now cost competitive. As the costs for renewable energy continue to fall, we will see a further increase in their use.
Hi,
Thanks a lot for sharing this great write up with the readers like me. Electricity, water,gas, wind and all the energy kinds are really the big issues that every country faces. I believe that being a responsible citizen we need to use these resources of energy wisely instead of waste them.
It cannot be stressed enough that the primary driving factor for the fact that wind and solar power are gaining on coal is because these clean and renewable sources of energy are now cost competitive. As the costs for renewable energy continue to fall, we will see a further increase in their use.
Indeed! Check out the latest article in the Guardian.
Hi,
Thanks a lot for sharing this great write up with the readers like me. Electricity, water,gas, wind and all the energy kinds are really the big issues that every country faces. I believe that being a responsible citizen we need to use these resources of energy wisely instead of waste them.