Construction World February 2021

Energy and Resources. Excelsior Wind has a direct connection to the Vryheid substation, via an on-site substation and a dedicated 132 kV power line, and will feed over 132 GWh of renewable power, into the national grid, enough to power an estimated 35 000 South African homes each year. The wind farm is constructed on 2 300 hectares of land in Swellendam, an area known as one of the largest agricultural producing areas in the country. By the very nature of wind power, over 90% of the land on the site will continue to yield agricultural crops as well as sustain livestock farming. Construction commenced two years ago and provided jobs to circa 380 workers, the majority of which came from its surrounding beneficiary communities within the Overberg Municipality. These are the same communities that will benefit from economic development programmes, through the 20-year operations period of the plant. The focus of the economic development initiatives will include education; skills development; and environmental stewardship, in addition to others. During the construction programme a number of early spend programmes were implemented, focused on the provision of secondary school study guides across various subjects for Grades 8 to 12. This is in addition to the various COVID-19 relief programmes, aimed at alleviating the impact of the pandemic on local communities. ▄ has also obtained necessary accreditation from the Quality Council for Trades and Occupation (QCTO); this means that the WTST qualification is recognised throughout South Africa and internationally. The WTST 7 qualification is also supported by the Manufacturing and Engineering Related Skills SETA (MerSETA). ▄ The virtual event featured addresses by: • Dr. Ayodele Odusola, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); • Dr Diane Parker, Deputy Director-General, University Education at the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET); • Nomawethu Qase, Director Renewable Energy at the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE); • Professor Chris Nhlapo, Vice-Chancellor of CPUT; • Dr. David Phaho, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships at CPUTCPUT; • Ntombifuthi Ntuli, CEO of SAWEA; • Angelina Mohanpersadh, Economic Development Manager of Goldwind; and • Henk Volschenk, Training Supervisor at SARETEC. To date, SARETEC has successfully trained students enrolled in the WTST 1 to 4 programmes with support from GIZ, the wind industry and Denmark. The training of the WTST 5 and WTST 6 groups was sponsored by the South African Wind Energy Project Phase 2 (SAWEP) which is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the DMRE and supported by the UNDP SA country office and the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI). The R3,4-million SAWEP sponsorship was allocated towards the 24 students over a period of seven months which included five months at SARETEC and two months’ workplace training at an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) wind turbine supplier. The funds also provided a stipend to students during their training. WTST is a globally sought-after qualification which trains specialised technicians to work on wind turbines undertaking construction, maintenance, service, fault finding and repairs. SARETEC is currently the only training centre in SA equipped to offer the seven-month WTST qualification which is accredited at the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 5. SARETEC

15

CONSTRUCTION WORLD FEBRUARY 2021