Offshore wind turbines could meet all of South Africa’s energy needs – eight times over: research Subscribe South Africa should tap into its abundant offshore wind energy resources to help address future electricity shortages, say researchers at Stellenbosch University. In a study published in the Journal of Energy in Southern Africa, Gordon Rae and Dr Gareth Erfort from the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University said that wind turbines strategically placed off the KZN and Western Cape coasts could contribute a significant amount of clean energy to the country. “If we were to install wind turbines at different depths off the KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape coast, they could potentially supply approximately 15% to 800% of South Africa’s annual electricity demand,” the researchers said.