Construction of GRI Wind Steel South Africa’s new 12 000 m² wind tower mast production facility in the Green Technology Industrial Park in Atlantis has commenced and is expected to be completed in October 2014.
The R300 million investment is the first that the City of Cape Town has attracted through its pilot Investment Incentive Scheme in Atlantis. GRI Wind Steel South Africa’s factory will have a manufacturing capacity of 150 three-section wind towers per year. Tower sections of up to 90 tonnes, 38m in length and 5m in diameter, can be accommodated in the new facility. Completed tower section storage will also be available on the site, with permanently installed logistic machinery to move and load the sections. This state-of-the-art facility will make use of the latest energy saving technologies designed to fully exploit the benefits of natural lighting and ventilation.“We are very excited about this investment which has been made possible by our pilot scheme in Atlantis. Atlantis is an area of great strategic importance as it is characterised by extremely high unemployment. Partnerships are the only way to drive much-needed job creation in Atlantis and indeed city-wide. It is the only way that we will be able to make progress possible, together,” said the city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Cllr Johan van der Merwe.
GRI has made use of the various incentives which form part of the overall scheme, including land-use and building application fast-tracking. They also purchased 7.8 ha of land from the city in the Green Technology Industrial Park in Atlantis, which is part of a quick access-to-land programme for industries operating in the green economy. During the operational phase, more than 200 jobs will be created of which approximately 150 to 180 employees will be from Atlantis and the surrounding area. The contractor is working with the local further education and training college to identify and develop skills that will be needed for the operation of the factory. “The success of the pilot project in Atlantis to date gives us great hope that this scheme could be rolled out to other areas in the metro,” said Van der Merwe.
