Name of the Project
Koruson 1 wind project.

Location
Middelburg, in the Umsombomvu local municipality, on the boundary of the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces, in South Africa.

Project Owner/s
EDF Renewables and black economic-empowered partners H1 Holdings, GIBB-Crede and a local community trust.

Project Description
The Koruson 1 project's three sites are spread across 50 km2. 

The project comprises the Sankraal, Coleskop and Phezukomova wind farm projects. Every wind farm has a capacity of 140 MW, with a total installed capacity of 420 MW. This makes it the biggest wind farm ever built in Africa. 

Every wind farm will comprise 26 wind turbines with a hub height of 124 m, a blade length of 81.35 m and weight of 28 t.

The projects were procured under Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

EDF Renewables is also building the Koruson main transmission substation on behalf of State-owned power utility Eskom under a self-build agreement, which will be transferred to Eskom upon completion.

The projects will sell power to Eskom under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

Potential Job Creation
About 3 800 workers are currently on site. The project is creating significant employment, and local resources and businesses are being used wherever possible.

More than 40% of the project’s value comprises South African goods and services, and 1.25% of revenue generated by the projects over their contractual period will be applied to socioeconomic development initiatives for nearby local communities

Capital Expenditure
R11-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Phezukomoya and San Kraal reached financial close in November 2022. Coleskop reached financial close in January 2023. The projects are scheduled to be commissioned during mid-2024 to early 2025.

Latest Developments
About half of the 237 turbine blades and other components required for the Koruson 1 cluster of wind farms have been delivered to site.

The blades and components were delivered from the Coega port using the R75 and N10.

There are 78 wind turbines that will be installed on concrete towers. These are now being assembled and erected across the three sites. The 124-m-high concrete towers each comprise 50 keystones, all manufactured locally at a concrete tower factory outside Middelburg, in the Eastern Cape.

The project is being developed by EDF Renewables in partnership with H1 Holdings, GIBB-Crede and a local community trust.

A main transmission station and three substations are also under construction to transmit the power to Eskom's transmission grid. The construction works are all progressing rapidly towards commissioning and the commercial operations date is planned for the first quarter of 2025.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
EDF Renewables, tel +27 21 657 4200 or email info@edf-re.co.za.