Johannesburg, 29 July 2024: South Africa's energy landscape is rapidly evolving, with renewable energy – specifically solar and wind – emerging as a significant player in the quest for a sustainable and reliable energy supply. Indications are that between a concerted effort by Eskom to recover underperforming coal fired power plants to higher levels of production and private sector solar energy contributions, the country has turned a corner on the electricity crisis.

South Africa has abundant natural and renewable energy (RE) resources that can be harnessed for energy production, with one of the best solar regimes in the world. The country's rich wind resources, particularly along its coastline and select inland areas, also present a promising avenue for clean energy production. However, like any energy source, wind energy comes with its own set of advantages and challenges that warrant a balanced examination.

The Benefits of Wind Power

Wind power is a renewable energy source that harnesses the natural wind flow to generate electricity. Unlike fossil fuels, it does not deplete finite resources and produces no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants during operation, contributing to cleaner air and mitigating climate change.

South Africa boasts significant wind resources, especially along its coastal regions, which are ideal for electricity production. The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has highlighted the country's potential for wind energy generation, with wind speeds conducive to efficient power generation.

Once operational, wind farms have relatively low operating costs. This could lead to stable electricity prices over the long term, positively impacting the cost of living and providing economic stability.

Wind energy development also has the potential to create employment opportunities across various sectors, although this is largely associated with the construction phase rather than the operation maintenance and ongoing local services. Employment from both solar and wind energy projects arise from the need for continued energy development and the relatively short lifespan of renewable energy plants (20 years) requiring replacement with newer turbines and higher performing PV panels. In this way,  wind power projects, like solar developments, can stimulate the economy in rural areas, providing income for landowners and intermittent employment opportunities.

The Challenges

Despite the clear benefits, there are several drawbacks to consider. Wind energy, although a clean energy source, can be variable as it depends on weather conditions, with the fluctuating nature of wind resulting in unpredictable energy production. A more significant factor to consider, however, is that not all wind energy is environmentally sustainable. While RE is increasingly displacing “dirty” fossil fuels in the power sector, offering the benefit of lower emissions of carbon and other types of pollution, not all sources of energy marketed as “renewable” are entirely beneficial to the environment.

Poorly located solar panel projects can sterilise arable land required for food production, for example, and poorly located wind energy can have a major impact on biodiversity and nature-based land use. There is clearly a need for an energy transition, but there is also a need to ensure that this transition does not come at the unnecessary expense of the natural environment.

Modern wind energy developments in South Africa are major civil engineering projects. They require substantial road development to transport the massive turbine towers and blades to the development site, where crane pads and foundation excavations are utilised for turbine assembly.  

As good wind energy resources are often associated with elevated sites, the construction requirements of roads along ridges and mountains are even more considerable. The need for a significant area of land on which to construct wind energy facilities can lead to conflicts over land use, especially in densely populated or ecologically sensitive areas. The visual impact of wind farms has also been raised as a significant concern by the eco-tourism sector a concern, as a visually intrusive and unsightly feature in landscapes that are often otherwise pristine.

Poorly located wind turbines pose direct and indirect threats to wildlife, such as noise pollution (elephants) and direct collisions (birds and bats) as well as general habitat loss across extensive turbine fields. This is particularly concerning for species already at risk of extinction due to human-related causes.  Large birds of prey, for example, are notably at risk in this regard.

The Eastern Cape context

The Eastern Cape has been identified as a province with high wind energy potential. Thousands of applications have been filed as developers seek to seize the government-mandated opportunity for renewable energy development.

The Eastern Cape is also globally recognised for its high biodiversity value and scenic beauty. A large area of the province has been converted from marginal agriculture to conservation, including formally protected areas which contribute substantially to the conservation of a uniquely diverse ecosystem and the socio-economic upliftment of the associated communities in the form of tourism and wildlife ranching. This “nature-based economy” is growing in the Eastern Cape . Notably, the Albany Thicket, one of the Eastern Cape’s prominent biomes, has been assessed as having “Very High” and “High” sensitivity with respect to large infrastructure development, which would be put at risk by large energy infrastructure including gas pipelines, fracking and large-scale wind energy development.

Conclusion

Wind energy presents a viable solution for South Africa's energy needs and environmental commitments. It offers the opportunity for a clean, sustainable, and economically beneficial energy source. But the challenges of intermittency, land use, visual impact, noise pollution, and wildlife conservation must be considered in order to ensure a just and sensible implementation.

Location is one of the most key aspects in this consideration. Renewable energy developments, with emphasis on extensive wind farms, need to be located where their impact on existing economies such as nature-based tourism can be minimized. This is particularly important where these economies provide long-term and sustainable sources of employment as well as biodiversity conservation, as in the case of reserves and protected areas of the Eastern Cape.