China’s First 244.5 MW Wind Project in Africa Built With $352 Mn Investment

Completed in 2017, the De Aar Wind Power Project is a key example of China-South Africa cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). With an investment of about 2.5 billion RMB (about 352 million U.S. dollars) and a total installed capacity of 244.5 MW, it's one of the first Chinese power companies to build and operate a wind farm in South Africa.

This wind project has about 163 turbines that generate roughly 770 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity each year. Thereby, powering some 300,000 South African homes and easing the country's power shortages.

Thabiso Moleko, a deployment counselor with the De Aar Department of Employment and Labor, said that the wind power project has fostered skills development among local people.

About The Project

South Africa's Northern Cape Province, on a breezy afternoon across the arid plains of 31-year-old Xolani Taute stood beneath a towering white wind turbine, its blades slicing through the blue sky above the small town of De Aar. Once an unemployed electrician with little prospect of further study or steady work, he is now a trainee wind turbine technician -- a testament to how renewable energy is transforming local lives.

Beyond delivering green energy, Longyuan SA has focused on "teaching people to fish" -- nurturing local talent, improving livelihoods, and stimulating regional growth. So far, the project has trained over 110 young technicians, with more than 80 percent of its workforce now composed of local employees, many of whom hold key operational and management positions. "Now I am able to support my family, and my sisters and my brothers," said Taute. "They changed my life."