Dublin-based wind and solar company, Mainstream Renewable Power, is investing over €670 million in three wind farms in South Africa. The wind farms, which are located in the Northern Cape Province, have a combined capacity of 360 megawatts. A consortium led by Mainstream, an Engineers Ireland CPD Accredited Employer, was awarded the contracts for the wind farms by the Department of Energy in South Africa in October 2013. The wind farms are expected to commence construction later this month. Barry Lynch, Mainstream’s managing director for onshore procurement, construction and operations, said the team at Mainstream was delighted to close finance for the 360MW project. He highlighted that the company has been awarded more megawatts than any other developer under the South African Government’s renewable-energy procurement programme. “Between rounds one and three, we’ve been awarded six projects with a combined capacity of nearly 600 megawatts. We’re delighted to have recently delivered three wind and solar farms from round one into commercial operation on budget and, once again, we’re working with many of the same debt and equity partners, construction contractors and turbine supplier. Partnerships are very important for us and our success in South Africa is a great example of this,” he said. “Globally, Mainstream continues its aggressive wind and solar expansion programme; we have hundreds of megawatts in construction and operation in Ireland, Chile, Canada and of course South Africa,” Lynch concluded. The three wind farms to be invested in are the 140MW Khobab farm in the district municipality of Namakwa, the 140MW Loeriesfontein 2 farm in the district municipality of Namakwa and the 80MW Noupoort farm in the local municipality of Umsobomvu, all located in the Northern Cape Province.