By: Creamer media

The latest 140 MW Umsobomvu Wind Farm reached commercial operation date just weeks after Mooi Plaats Solar PV’s 240 MW, bringing 380 MW of the Koruson 2 cluster into commercial operation.

The third project, Hartebeesthoek Wind, also with 140 MW, remains on track to turn on commercially in June and complete the full 520 MW cluster.

The renewable electricity supplied displaces coal-fired grid power across platinum group metals company Valterra, iron-ore mining company Kumba, and diamond mining company De Beers.

When fully operational, the 520 MW Koruson 2 cluster is expected to abate 2.2-million tonnes of CO2 a year.

The construction phase of the Koruson 2 cluster generated thousands of direct and indirect jobs across the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape, two provinces with some of South Africa's highest unemployment rates. Mooi Plaats is in the Northern Cape and Umsobomvu and Hartebeesthoek are in the Eastern Cape.

Local procurement targets were embedded in construction contracts, and Envusa has committed R20-million to socioeconomic development for the Inxuba Yethemba and Umsobomvu communities.

Koruson 2's three utility-scale projects are within one of South Africa's richest renewable-energy corridors.

All three projects connect to the Koruson 400 kV main transmission substation, built as part of EDF's Koruson 1 project cluster, the largest privately constructed transmission substation in South Africa, designed to connect up to 1.5 GW of renewable energy to the national grid.

"Umsobomvu reaching commercial operation date confirms what we’ve always believed about Envusa – that it’s a platform built on exceptional execution,” EDF Southern Africa VP Tristan de Drouas stated in a release to Mining Weekly.

With Mooi Plaats and Umsobomvu now live, the portfolio wheeling framework of Envusa, an aggregator and trader, is active across the two operational projects, supplying more than ten mine sites. Developed in close collaboration with Eskom, the approach is described as a new model for industrial renewable energy supply in South Africa.

“This is a technically demanding project in a complex grid environment, and every person involved gave everything to meet this milestone," Envusa execution head Hanli Smit explained.

The Koruson 2 projects were structured from the outset to deliver tangible benefit to surrounding communities and to advance black economic empowerment.

Pele Green Energy, an established South African independent power producer, holds a 20% equity stake in the three Koruson 2 project companies and a community trust has been established to ensure that local communities participate directly in the financial benefits generated over the 20-year operating life of each asset.

Envusa is simultaneously advancing an ambitious pipeline targeting 3 GW to 5 GW of wind, solar and battery storage projects across South Africa and the broader Southern African region by 2030.

The company's strategy is to extend beyond its current mining sector clients to supply other hard-to-abate industries, where the need for cost-competitive clean energy is equally urgent.

"Two projects down, one more to come in June – and beyond that, a pipeline that will define the next chapter of South Africa's energy transition. Umsobomvu reaching commercial operation date is not the finish line – it’s confirmation that we’re on the right track," Envusa CEO Nicole Mason pointed out.

The JV develops, finances and operates utility-scale renewable-energy assets.