Darling Wind Farm

The Darling wind-farm project was conceived and developed by a group of private individuals and an independent power producer in Darling. Some of the funding came from the Danish International Development Assistance programme of the Danish government. The project is the first of its kind in the country to generate electricity from wind power on a commercial basis.  It is an Eskom demonstrator site, which means it’s something of a learning platform for the development of the wind energy industry in South Africa.

The wind farm has four turbines which are Fuhrländer FL1250 horizontal axis wind turbines and can supply 5.2-megawatts of electricity,  A much larger project is currently being planned for St Helena Bay. His will have between 18 and 20 wind turbines. Because of the prevailing winds along the west coast the area is ideal for wind energy generation. The turbines begin producing power at a wind speed of only 8 kilometres an hour and reach their full potential at 54 kilometres. What seems a slow rotation is a measured way of rotating at a constant speed of 32 revolutions per minute, regardless of wind speed.

Now, with technological advances, and public and private sector backing, this clean, renewable energy source is an economically viable option

The local Darling community is a shareholder in the wind farm, with plans to begin benefitting from phase two. And unlike power generated by fossil fuels, such as coal or gas, wind energy is freely available energy throughout the year. You can drive fairly close to the wind turbines, genic. They rise some 50 metres above the ground,

33° 19′ 0.60″ S 18° 15′ 20.40″ E