A R400 million waste-to-energy conversion plant was officially opened in Athlone, Cape Town, on Wednesday with high hopes of reducing the city’s landfill sites and creating jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an exciting addition to the green economy in Cape Town,\u201d mayor Patricia de Lille said after a guided tour with Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.<\/p>\n
It symbolised the city’s move from being a distributor of electricity to generating electricity in its goal of having 20% renewable energy as part of its energy mix.<\/p>\n
The city wanted to give the citizens of Cape Town greater choice on what type of energy they wanted.<\/p>\n
De Lille said she felt it was wrong that Eskom had a monopoly and forced the city to purchase its fossil-fuel power.<\/p>\n
There were plans to challenge this in court, on the grounds that the city should be allowed to source energy directly from independent power producers.<\/p>\n
The sprawling plan was thought to be the first of its kind in Africa, and would pave the way for more plants to turn rubbish into gas.<\/p>\n
Zille said the project fit into the province’s plans of being the hub of the green economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are driving it very hard because we see the prospects for South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project is a collaboration between Waste Mart and Clean Energy Africa, and will be run by New Horizons Energy.<\/p>\n