Molteno, the Eastern Cape town that holds South Africa’s record for the lowest temperature, is drawing large wind power investments, MyBroadband reported.
The town already has a 100MW wind farm. A further 954.7MW of generation capacity is planned for the area around it.
If every project starts running, the region could have up to 1.05GW of wind generation capacity, according to the report.
The working plant is the Dorper Wind Farm, which lies between Molteno and the nearby town of Sterkstroom. Its 40 turbines entered commercial operation in 2014.
Plans for the farm were drawn up in 2011, on a site about 2km south of the town. The project reached financial close in 2012, and building work then began.
The largest new plan is the Stormberg Cluster, which would produce a combined 474.7MW. It is made up of three proposed projects.
Loperberg would generate 199.9MW, Malabar 212.4MW and Spreeukloof 62.4MW. All three were entered in Bid Window 6 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
They have not been awarded yet because of grid constraints, MyBroadband said.
Two Ingwe Wind Energy Facilities are also being developed in the region. Each would have a capacity of up to 240MW.
These projects have gone through environmental assessments. However, they still do not have a power purchase agreement, financial close or a commitment to build.
Molteno set the national cold record on 23 August 2013. The Buffelsfontein weather station just outside the town measured minus 20.1°C.
That reading broke the old record of minus 18.6°C, which was set in June 1996.
The town has a long energy history. It was South Africa’s first coal mining town, growing after coal was found in the Stormberg Mountains in 1859.
George Vice founded Molteno in 1874. It was named after Sir John Molteno, the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.
The town supplied much of the coal used at the Kimberley diamond fields and on the Cape’s railways. Its mines produced about 70,000 tonnes a year by 1897.
Mining began to fall away about two decades later. New railway lines opened up the coal fields of Natal and the Transvaal.
The Group Areas Act of 1950 divided the town along racial lines. Residents were removed from some mixed areas, which hurt the local economy.
On 12 August 1985, apartheid police shot dead three activists from Molteno. The town marks Molteno Day every year on that date to remember them.
Goods trains to the town were cut back in the 1980s and stopped completely in the 1990s. The government renovated and reopened Molteno station in 2007.
Source: this article is based on reporting by MyBroadband. Image: MyBroadband. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.