The wind energy industry in South Africa has seen an increase in disputes between existing wind farm operators and new wind farm developments, as well as between proposed new developments in proximity to each other. This a direct outcome of the wake loss effects, a concept which refers to reduction in power generation output and losses in revenues that occur as a results of a new wind farm being developed nearby in its wind direction. The upwind wind farm would generate wake effects that ultimately reduce the output of the downwind wind farm due to the change in the yield of the wind reaching the downwind wind farm.
Appeals between existing and developing projects damage the reputation of the industry as it has been seen in a couple of news articles focusing on disputes between operators and developers in the wind sector. The industry needs to agree how to deal with wake loss issues outside of a regulatory environment. SAWEA has set up a small task team comprising representatives from different working groups and the Board.
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