[Haichuan Overseas Engineering] China Power Construction is building the world’s largest hybrid wind-solar-storage grid-connected power plant in South Africa

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The Oya Hybrid Energy Project in South Africa is currently the world’s largest hybrid energy plant that combines solar, wind, and storage systems. It is located at the border between the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces in South Africa, with a capacity of 155 megawatts from solar power, 86.4 megawatts from wind power, and 94 megawatts/242 megawatt-hours from storage systems. Units under China Power Construction, such as the 11th Hydropower Bureau, Beijing Institute, and Northwest Institute, participated in the construction. In total, 18 wind turbines with a capacity of 4.8 megawatts each are planned to be installed in the wind farm area; they will be arranged in series along the mountain ridges on mountains stretching over 30 kilometers in length, at altitudes ranging from 1100 to 1400 meters. To date, the hoisting of 18 turbines has been completed, as well as the electrical installation work for 15 units; the cold commissioning process is also progressing in an orderly manner. Fan hoisting is the most technically complex core stage in the wind power project construction. Each wind turbine consists of four steel tower sections, and its foundation is designed as an anchor bolt cage type gravity spread foundation, making construction extremely difficult. To address key challenges such as high wind speeds in the wind farm, complex terrain, and short installation windows, the project team took targeted actions to successfully overcome the technical difficulties associated with installation in such complex environments. It achieved millimeter-level precision in the docking of tower sections and the assembly of the turbine blades, providing a solid foundation for the long-term safe operation of the wind turbines. Upon completion, the project is expected to provide South Africa with approximately 570 million units of reliable and stable clean energy per year, which will be of great significance in enhancing the country’s electricity supply capacity, alleviating its long-term power shortages, facilitating the transformation of its energy structure, and contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals.