Geordin Hill-Lewis, the mayor of the city, said on Wednesday that the municipality will begin its first round of power procurement from independent power suppliers.
Hill-Lewis said the City of Cape Town will acquire up to 300MW of renewable energy in the coming months at the Solar Power Africa conference, which is now taking place at the Cape Town ICC.
“The City of Cape Town will be considering proposals from IPPs for projects between 5–20 MW that will allow us to access an affordable and reliable electricity supply. Especially those that are able to help us reduce our reliance on Eskom during peak times of use. We will consider proposals from a range of projects, including generation-only projects, generation-plus-storage projects, and storage-only projects.
“It is crucial to the City 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 demand is at its highest.”
City of Cape Town Mayor
Hill-Lewis said energy security means businesses succeeding. Energy security means more jobs. Energy security means meaningful economic recovery and growth.
MMC for Energy Cllr Beverley van Reenen said the the municipality has shown its commitment to energy security.
“The City has done so by working flat out to ensure we get IPP projects up and running as soon as possible.We cannot afford to wait any longer than necessary to ensure Capetonians have reliable and affordable access to electricity.”
MMC for Energy
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said he would not stand in Cape Town’s way.