The Mzansi Energy Consortium has signed a 12-year power purchase agreement with Palabora Mining Company to supply electricity from the Marula Green Power project in Limpopo. The project will be South Africa’s first renewable facility to deploy grid-forming technology, combining a 132 MWp solar PV plant with a 360 MWh battery storage system and a dedicated 132 kV transmission line, the consortium says.
Conventional grid-following plants synchronise to but do not stabilise the grid while grid-forming inverters actively maintain voltage and frequency. This allows solar and storage plants to mimic the stabilising effect of traditional synchronous generators, providing inertia, voltage support and even black start capability, Wessel Wessels, Chief Operations Officer at Mzansi Energy Consortium, explains.
“This project aims to align private renewable investment with national grid needs. Grid forming will be the de facto standard. Without this capability, the proliferation of grid-following projects will place increasing stress on South Africa’s already constrained system,” he says.
The consortium is implementing the project with technology partner Huawei while modelling and compliance studies are being run with Eskom to align the project with evolving South African grid codes. Operations are expected to begin in early 2027.
