- The first clean, green energy electrons have been wheeled over the City of Cape Town’s grid by Growthpoint Properties and electricity trader Etana Energy.
- Cape Town is planning to add up to 1GW of independent power to end load shedding in the city over time.
The city of Cape Town has initiated a pilot project for wheeling a process of buying and selling electricity among private parties using the grid to transport power from its source to distant users. This effort aims to enhance access to renewable energy and address the energy crisis in the country.
As part of this project, solar energy generated at the Constantia Village shopping centre is being transmitted into Cape Town’s electricity grid. Therefore, it is utilized at Growthpoint’s 36 Hans Strijdom office building. The wheeling agreement between the city and Growthpoint was recently signed, and a significant milestone was achieved when solar power from Constantia Village was successfully integrated into Cape Town’s energy grid for the first time last Sunday.
The six-month pilot project in the city involves 15 wheeling participants, representing 25 generators and 40 customers. It serves as a foundation for future wheeling initiatives in Cape Town, enabling businesses to utilize solar energy from rooftop panels across multiple locations. It the optimization of solar capacity beyond individual buildings.
Cape Town has ambitious plans to add up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of independent power to eliminate load shedding in the city over time. The strategy includes various approaches such as wheeling electricity, partnering with independent power producers, incentivizing households and businesses to generate solar power, implementing a Power Heroes scheme to reduce energy demand, establishing solar PV farms, and further enhancing the Steenbras hydropower plant. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis anticipates that wheeling could eventually contribute up to 350 megawatts (MW) to the grid.