By:Renwablenow

EDF Renewables, a unit of French state-owned electricity company EDF, said on Monday it has commissioned South Africa’s first self-build main transmission substation (MTS) by an independent power producer (IPP), which is designed to connect 1.5 GW of renewable energy to the national grid.

The Koruson 400/132 kV MTS, located outside Noupoort in the Northern Cape, has been developed by a consortium led by EDF Renewables, with partners H1 Holdings, Gibb-Crede, and a local community trust. The consortium is also behind the development of the adjacent Koruson 1 project cluster, which will connect to the grid via the MTS as part of Round 5 of the IPP Office’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The Koruson 1 project will link three wind farms, totalling 420 MW, to the grid. In the next phase, the neighbouring Envusa Energy Koruson 2 project will add two wind energy facilities and a solar farm, bringing a total of 520 MW to the grid.

“This is the first greenfield transmission substation in more than seven years to be connected to the grid, and it is the first greenfield transmission substation that is a full self-build, i.e. developed, financed, engineered, constructed, and commissioned by an independent power producer,” explained Tshepo Tshivhasa, Head of Grid Engineering at EDF Renewables.