South Africa Approves First Wind Farm - Reuters

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JOHANNESBURG - "South Africa, facing a power crunch with demand for electricity set to outstrip current supply by 2007, has approved the construction of its first commercial windfarm, the environment ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said its director-general on Monday approved plans for a windfarm in the Darling district of Western Cape province after concluding that the positive effects would far outweigh any possible environmental impact. The farm will include four 50 metre (165 foot) high Danish designed wind turbines with a blade span of 31 metres and a combined output of 5.2 megawatts.

The Danish govenment aid agency Danida was helping fund the project, the minstry said. "It is being referred to as the National Demonstration Project, because it will be used as an example for future public-private partnerships in the establishment of electricity generation, which was historically largely the sole domain of Eskom," it said."

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