Cape Town is planning a R1.2-billion solar farm project that it hopes will protect it from one full stage of load shedding.
Cape Town is planning a R1.2-billion solar PV and battery storage project that it hopes will protect it from one full stage of load shedding.
Two years ago, the city applied to access technical assistance from the C40 Cities Finance Facility for its climate resilience projects. The finance facility is funded by the UK, Germany and France, and more than 60 cities around the world applied for help. “Cape Town was the only city that was successfully awarded assistance for two projects,” Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said in a statement.
“We are confident that Cape Town will be the first metro to free our economy from power disruptions and ensure a green and just energy transition,” he said.We are confident that Cape Town will be the first metro to free our economy from power disruptions
The Paardevlei plant, near Somerset West, will use a thousand acres of land owned by the city and will be complete by the end of the year, with full commissioning of the plant expected in August 2026.
Shane Prins, manager of Cape Town’s sustainable energy markets department, told News24 that the power project will cost R1.2-billion, although the city won’t provide all of that: it will allocate R447-million of its R2.3-billion budget to end load shedding over three years to this project.
“Other possible funding options to be assessed include private-public partnerships or having an independent power producer develop the project and then have the city enter into a power-purchase agreement for the electricity,” Prins was quoted as saying.
Cape Town is the first city in South Africa to offer households and businesses cash for power from their solar PV systems, with the feed-in tariff set to increase by 10.15% for 2023/2024, plus a 25c/kWh incentive.
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