Construction of the Koruson 1 cluster of three wind farms (Phezukomoya, San Kraal and Coleskop) outside Middelburg and Noupoort, is well underway, with half of the of 237 turbine blades and other components required, having been delivered from Coega port via the R75 and N10 to the three sites. Each blade on the turbines is 81.35m long, with a weight of 28 tons. Developed by EDF Renewables in partnership with H1 Holdings, GIBB-Crede and a local community trust, each wind farm has a capacity of 140 MW, with a total installed capacity of 420 MW. This makes the biggest wind farm ever built in Africa, The total investment in the project is 11bn ZAR.
The scale of the Koruson 1 project is massive with the three sites spread across 50 square km. There are 78 wind turbines which will be installed on concrete towers, now being assembled and erected across the three sites. The 124m high concrete towers each comprise 50 keystones, all manufactured locally at a concrete tower factory outside Middelburg.
In addition to the three windfarms, a main transmission station and three substations are under construction to transmit the power to Eskom. The construction works are all progressing rapidly towards commissioning, and the Commercial Operations Date (COD) is planned for first quarter of 2025.
The project which is is part of Round 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme, and will contribute to reducing the energy deficit in South Africa.
Approximately 3800 workers are currently on site. The project is creating significant employment, and local resources and businesses are being utilized wherever possible. More than 40% of the project’s value is comprises South African goods and services, and 1,25% of revenue generated by the projects over their contractual period will be applied to socio-economic development initiatives for nearby local communities.
