Cape Town’s big plan to end load shedding
The City of Cape Town says there are only a few days left for the public to comment on its draft Energy Strategy, which plans to end load shedding in the city for good.
“Our strategy builds on three commitments: to end load shedding, alleviate energy poverty, and optimise energy use across Cape Town. This will be backed by a future-fit municipal electricity service, proactive electricity infrastructure upgrades, and support for residents to seize opportunities in the changing energy market,” the city’s MMC for Energy Beverley van Reenen said.
“The strategy is a roadmap showing how in this fast-changing energy environment, business, residents, investors, and the city can work together to create a future-fit Cape Town, powered by a cleaner, more affordable energy mix, where we are all far less reliant on Eskom.”
The city aims to add 1,000 MW of independent power supply to end load shedding over time.
The first 650 MW of this is expected to go online within the next five years, protecting the city from four stages of load shedding by 2026.
The energy supply mix will include:
- Embedded Independent Power Producer (IPP) renewable energy (200MW) – with the goal of diversifying electricity suppliers for more reliable, cost-effective electricity
- Dispatchable Energy (up to 500MW) – a key load shedding mitigation mechanism, with 10-year power contracts for renewable energy plants which need not be grid-tied
- Wheeling (up to 350MW) – a city-enabled means of third parties selling electricity to each other using existing grid infrastructure
- Private Small Scale Embedded Generation (up to 100 MW) – and small-scale electricity sales under the Cash for Power programme for residents and businesses with solar PV generation capacity
- City-owned Small scale embedded generation (up to 20MW) – from the Atlantis plant (7MW) and solar PV at City facilities (13MW)
The deadline for public comments on Cape Town’s draft Energy Strategy is 31 July.
Cape Town’s big push
The City of Cape Town has been pushing to reduce its dependency on Eskom for several months and has introduced several measures to decrease its dependence on the utility.
For one, Cape Town has decreased load shedding compared to the rest of South Africa, with the city using the Steenbraas Dam to generate hydroelectricity.
Furthermore, 15 companies started wheeling electricity in June after getting council approval, using the city’s grid infrastructure to sell power.
“The city is getting on top of the complexity of wheeling, which requires new skills, regulatory and policy changes, billing development and bilateral agreements. Our programme will allow electricity to be wheeled over both the municipal and Eskom distribution networks in Cape Town,” van Reenen previously said.
“Sales will be governed by bilateral power purchase agreements within a market environment, as opposed to a regulated environment, as the price of the energy is set between the parties and not by the City, Eskom or the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA)”
Cape Town’s draft Energy Strategy, which can be found below, is yet another way the city is looking to lessen its dependence on Eskom’s faltering power supply.
Read: ANC does not benefit from keeping Eskom state-owned: Gordhan
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