The proposed construction of a wind farm on the farm Sunnyside near Jeffreys Bay has been a major talking-point in our region for some time. Environmental impact assessments have been done, and locals have expressed their views in favour of or against the project.
In a recent [5 August 2011] article appearing in Engineering News, Terence Creamer reported that renewable-energy developer Red Cap has received environmental approvals for contiguous wind farm sites in Oyster Bay, Humansdorp, St Francis Bay and Jeffreys Bay, which together comprise what is known as the ‘Red Cap Kouga Wind Farm’. Red Cap has also concluded an agreement with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to facilitate material community ownership in its proposed projects.
Lise Pretorius writes in the Financial Mail of 20 October 2011 that there is huge employment potential in the fledgling wind energy industry. She quotes the SA Wind Energy Centre (Sawec) at Stellenbosch University who says, "An estimated 8500 jobs in operations & maintenance, 2000 in education and research & development, 4000 in turbine installations and 12000 jobs in local manufacturing will be needed by 2030. But Sawec’s Prof. Wikus van Niekerk says no-one is training technical staff to take up these opportunities."
So if the authorities get their ducks in a row, it seems evident that the employment prospects due to the proposed wind farm in the Jeffreys Bay area are nothing if not upbeat.
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