Cape Town to become first load shedding-free city in South Africa: mayor
Cape Town will be the first load shedding-free city in South Africa, says mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Speaking at the Solar Power Africa conference on Wednesday (16 February), Hill-Lewis said the city has now opened its first round of procurement of power from independent power producers (IPPs), with Cape Town issuing tenders to procure 300MW of additional renewable energy – much of which will be generated by solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, he said.
“We will be considering proposals from IPPs for projects that will allow us to access an affordable and reliable electricity supply. We are particularly eager for proposals from IPPs that are able to help us eliminate our reliance on Eskom during peak times of use.”
Hill-Lewis said the city will consider proposals from a range of projects, including generation-only projects, generation plus storage, and storage only.
“It is crucial to us that we are not only able to keep the lights on during off-peak times, but that we are able to supply households and businesses with electricity when they most need it. Reliable energy is critical for any thriving economy and that is what we will provide in Cape Town,” he said.
A second tender for dispatchable generation projects over 20MW, which can be brought online in a short space of time, will follow this initial tender. Over time, the city will also procure much greater storage capacity to ensure the reliability of our supply and the integrity of our grid, he said.
Hill-Lewis said the move has received the support of embattled power utility Eskom, but could still be stymied by legislative hurdles thrown up by the national government.
“South Africa’s energy crisis is an economic emergency. We cannot keep on just paying lip service to the need for energy security in South Africa. There is only one topic in the energy debate: how to end this crisis as soon as possible,” he said.
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