EDF Renewables commissions South Africa’s first IPP-built substation

EDF Renewables, a subsidiary of the French Électricité de France (EDF) Group has commissioned the first main transmission substation in South Africa developed entirely by an independent power producer. The 400/132 kV Koruson substation, located near Noupoort in the Northern Cape,  connects 1.5 GW of renewable energy to the national grid. This is developed in collaboration with H1 Holdings, Gibb-Crede, and a local community trust, the MTS forms part of the Koruson 1 cluster. The latter includes the Phezukomoya, San Kraal, and Coleskop wind farms with 140 MW capacity, totalling 420 MW under round 5 of the renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) procurement programme. The MTS integrates into an existing 400 kV transmission line and includes the implementation of a full suite of advanced protection, control, and automation technologies, developed specifically to meet operational reliability and national compliance requirements. The phase 2 of the broader Koruson development will be led by Envusa Energy, a joint renewable energy venture between Anglo American and EDF Renewables. This phase will add 520 MW of wind and solar capacity, which will be connected via 132 kV overhead lines and switching stations to the state-owned power utility Eskom’s infrastructure.