Construction of EDF Renewables’ Koruson 1 cluster of three wind farms (Phezukomoya, San Kraal and Coleskop) outside Middelburg and Noupoort, is well under way, with half of the of 237 turbine blades and other components required having been delivered from the Coega port. Each blade on the turbines is 81.35 m long and weighs 28 tonnes and they have travelled via the R75 and N10 to the three sites.
The turbine blades for Koruson 1, each 81.35 m long and weighing 28 tonnes, in transit to the site.
Project CEO, Cedric Faye said, “We would like to thank the public for their patience and safe driving with regard to the abnormal loads carrying the components from the harbour to site. There are several other projects under construction in the area, and we realise that traffic is being affected.”
The scale of the Koruson 1 project is extensive, with the three sites spread across 50 square kilometres. A total of 78 wind turbines will be installed on concrete towers, which 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.
Developed by EDF Renewables in partnership with H1 Holdings, GIBB-Crede and a local community trust, each wind farm will have a generation capacity of 140 MW, seeing a total installed capacity of 420 MW. This cluster constitutes the biggest wind farm yet built in Africa. The total investment in the project amounts to 11 billion ZAR.
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 progressing rapidly towards commissioning, and the Commercial Operations Date (COD) is planned for first quarter of 2025.
The project is part of Round 5 of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and will contribute to reducing the energy deficit in the country.
About 3 800 workers are currently on site. In this construction phase, Koruson 1 is creating significant employment and local resources and businesses are being used wherever possible. More than 40% of the project’s value is made up of South African goods and services, and 1.25% of revenue generated by the three wind farms over their contractual period will be applied to socio-economic development initiatives for nearby local communities.
For more information visit: www.edf-re.co.za
