Why South Africa has no wind farms at sea

South Africa’s above-average onshore wind resources and lack of a clear government policy framework are the main reasons the country has yet to venture into offshore wind energy.

According to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s Independent Power Producer (IPP) database, at least 34 private onshore wind projects are in operation in the country, but not a single offshore wind turbine has been installed.

Several desktop studies in the past few years show South Africa has vast untapped offshore wind energy capacity, including one from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 2022.

It found that offshore wind farms could produce 44.52 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity if turbines were installed in shallow waters with depths of less than 50 metres, and 2,387.08 TWh with wind turbines in waters further offshore and around 1km deep.

For reference, South Africa’s annual energy demand was around 220.93TWh in 2019, before starting to dip significantly due to worsening load-shedding from 2020.

The shallow water installations would be capable of providing roughly 20% of South Africa’s total electricity needs, while the deep water installations could serve it eight times over.

Offshore wind turbines are larger and have over double the capacity of onshore types.

Where onshore turbines like the ones at the numerous farms dotted across the three Cape provinces typically produce 3–5MW per turbine, offshore turbines have capacities of 8–15 MW.

This is due to more consistent wind profiles and higher wind speeds at sea level than on land.

MyBroadband recently spoke to the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), the foremost representative of wind energy Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the country, to learn more about why there are no offshore wind plants along our shores.

SAWEA explained that South Africa’s land boasted an average wind resource that surpassed that of many other countries.

“Typically, regions with abundant wind resources and close proximity to potential grid connections are ideal for the construction of onshore wind farms,” SAWEA said.

“Consequently, due to South Africa’s significant onshore wind potential, onshore wind farms present a viable option.”

Connecting onshore wind farms to the transmission grid is easier because of the proximity to existing infrastructure.

SAWEA explained that another downside to offshore installations was their higher cost.

“The CSIR report indicates that although offshore wind has reduced significantly and will continue to reduce, as of 2020, bottom-fixed offshore wind was 91% more expensive than onshore wind, while floating fixed offshore was 308% more expensive,” SAWEA said.

Contributing to the costs is the larger size of offshore wind turbines, which is necessary to accommodate increased stresses from the wind and waves.

They must also be constructed using materials that can withstand the corrosive sea conditions.

The “land” issue

Another major point of uncertainty with offshore wind farms is the ownership issue.

Onshore wind farms are often built on private land that is leased or owned by an IPP.

However, the sections of the ocean where offshore wind farms would be built are not private property but owned by the government.

For other commercial activities in the country’s waters — such as fishing, recreation, conservation, and mineral exploration — government must first issue permits.

“It is likely that offshore wind developments would have to follow a similar approach to obtain permits from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), The South African National Defence Force (The Navy) and others in order to build a wind farm,” SAWEA said.

Nevertheless, SAWEA said that offshore wind’s different technical capabilities and benefits meant it also had a role to play in the global energy transition.

There are plans in the pipeline for building offshore wind farms in South Africa, but these are still at a very early stage.

In 2023, the World Bank began studies to create an Offshore Wind Roadmap for South Africa, which is due to launch in 2024.

“The Going Global: Expanding Offshore Wind in Emerging Markets report estimated that South Africa has the potential of 852GW of floating and 49GW of fixed offshore wind plants,” SAWEA said.

The latter would be roughly equal to Eskom’s total installed capacity at the moment, while the former would be 17 times greater.

“While there is growing interest in developing an offshore wind facility, the significant associated costs, as well as unclear permitting regulatory framework has made the development of a pilot project difficult,” SAWEA said.

SAWEA said that exploring offshore wind resources was only likely to occur in the long term because it would require government to develop a clear policy framework that integrates offshore wind capacity into the country’s energy mix.

“This would also require extensive consultation and thorough assessments to take into consideration all possible favourable and adverse scenarios,” the association said.