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 power solutions 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 400/132 kV Koruson main transmission substation (MTS) 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.

Latest Developments
EDF power solutions has commissioned the 420 MW Koruson 1 wind-power cluster.

A key enabling component has been the construction of what EDF has described as South Africa’s largest privately built main transmission substation, designed to connect up to 1.5 GW of renewable energy to the grid – supporting Koruson 1, the planned 520 MW Koruson 2 wind farm and other future projects.

EDF has noted that construction was complex because of the project’s remote, high-altitude location (above 1 600 m) and large footprint (more than 500 km²). It required building more than 110 km of access roads and transporting turbine and substation components more than 400 km from Coega harbour.

The cluster comprises 78 turbines rated at 5.6 MW each, with EDF having selected an “innovative” turbine system to support performance and grid requirements in South Africa’s operating environment.

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.