Landowners, mainly farmers, stand to reap huge financial rewards from the renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) procurement programme, Windlab SA MD Peter Venn said on Monday.
The Department of Energy earlier this year awarded Windlab preferred bidder status for two wind projects with a total capacity of 230MW. The renewable energy projects will provide the landowners with a consistent stream of income for 20 years. The project will sell the power to Eskom under 20-year power purchase agreements.
Mr Venn said the landowners would get a percentage of the revenue from the projects “based on the amount of energy produced from their land”.
“Giving the farmers supplementary income will ensure consistent cash flow,” he said.
The royalties would amount to “many thousands of rands a year”, Mr Venn said.
As construction work on the first group of renewable energy projects commences, there is an expectation that the projects will boost the communities in which they are based.
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