Wind Atlas for South Africa (WASA)
South Africa is among the countries participating in the Global Wind and Solar Atlas led by the
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The WASA project is an initiative of the South African
government, DOE, and is co-funded by the Global Environment Facility (R 8 million) with United Nations
Development Programme support, through the South African Wind Energy Programme (SAWEP), and the
Danish government (DKK 9.9 million). The development of the wind atlas was achieved as a capacity
development and research collaboration between several institutions, each contributing specialized skills
and knowledge to the project team:





SANEDI (South African National Energy Development Institute), which is responsible for
management, coordination, contracting;
UCT CSAG (Climate System Analysis Group, University of Cape Town) in mesoscale modelling;
CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) for measurements, microscale modelling and
application;
SAWS (South African Weather Service) for extreme wind assessment; and
DTU Wind Energy (Dept of Wind Energy, Technical University of Denmark), partner in all
activities.
The key deliverables of WASA Phase 1 which was initiated in June 2009 and concluded in April 2014,
covering Western Cape and parts of the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape provinces, are:


10 High quality wind measurement masts and data collection operational since 2010. The wind
measurement data is used to verify the Numerical Wind Atlas (see Table 1).
The Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model customised for wind resource modelling with wind
time series data available from 1 Sept 1990 to 31 Dec 2012. The wind time series data are particular
useful for:
•
•
•
•
Study the annual, seasonal and diurnal variations in wind resources
As input to power system modelling
Study the geographical cross correlation of wind across South Africa
Used for long-term correction of the wind resources given by the WRF wind climate files

WRF based Verified Numerical Wind Atlas (NWA) (see figure 1) and database, including seasonal
variations for planning and development of wind farms and off-grid electrification. The level of accuracy
and granularity of the data has proven invaluable for wind power development, addressing the problem
of earlier wind atlases with low resolution and or unverified data. In particular it saves time and costs
as the bankability of a potential wind farm site can now be estimated and physical wind measurements
only to be undertaken for bankable wind sites.

Large Scale High Resolution (250 m grid spacing) Wind Resource map (see Figure 2). The wind
resource map is an application of the Verified Numerical Wind Atlas with topography and terrain
obstacles incorporated and depicts the local wind climate that a wind turbine would encounter. It
also offers important benefits for developers, policy makers, utilities and the industry, including the
following:






Levels the playing field between small and large industry players to identify and develop wind hot
spots.
Assists Government in estimating the real wind resource potential.
Identifies possible wind development zones in line with strategic environmental assessment (SEA)
studies (e.g. https://redzs.csir.co.za) or frameworks
Long-term grid planning to connect with wind development areas.
Wind farm planning in positioning (micro siting) the wind turbines for optimal wind exposures.
Map and database of extreme wind climate of the modelled areas in the three provinces (see Figure
3)

Information workshops, seminar and presentations at Windaba etc

The CSIR and UCT (CSAG) respectively capacitated in micro scale and meso scale wind resource
modelling

Training tools, software, guides, data bases

Research publications of the results incl. final book and web presence:


http://www.wasa.csir.co.za (online graphs)
http://wasadata.csir.co.za/wasa1/WASAData (final reports, maps, guides and data (register for free
and log in)
http://www.wasaproject.info/ (WASA project information, presentations, etc)
http://veaonline.risoe.dk/wasa (WRF model which forecasts wind speed, power density and direction
of the wind over South Africa)


WASA expansion
The Danish Government in March 2013 approved further support (DKK 12 million) in expanding WASA to
cover the remaining areas of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State provinces. Through WASA
2 an additional five wind measurements masts are being installed with operation to commence by Set/Oct
2015.
The GEF approved SAWEP Phase 2 in May 2015. SAWEP Phase 2 include support in the expansion of
WASA 2 to cover the remaining areas of the Northern Cape province with implementation to start in 2016.
Contact: Andre Otto
Cell 082 877 0128
Email: andreo@sanedi.org.za