Kangas Wind Farm on Monday reported that construction of the Groeipunt transmission substation was 80% complete and on track to be handed over to State-owned power utility Eskom in March 2020.

The construction of the substation started in June and marked the first time that an independent power producer in South Africa had taken on the responsibility of a greenfield self-build transmission substation, which would normally be done by State-owned energy utility Eskom.




The Groeipunt substation is located 50 km from Springbok, in the Northern Cape.

The work completed to date includes civil works and turbine components, while 61 turbines had been lifted.




All 610 components were expected to be on site by February 2020.

The handover of the 160 MVA transformer will be done by the end of January, followed by the 250 MVA transformer handover scheduled for late February.

“Once the two major transformers were installed and all Pad Mount transformers were in place, commissioning and testing would start on completed circuits, while the final erection of turbines would continue in remaining circuits, followed by Grid Code compliance testing,” Kangas construction project manager Manie Kotze said in a statement on Monday.

He said the substation was expected to reach commercial operation in late August 2020.