Cape Town’s Visionary Energy Strategy

The City of Cape Town has set out an ambitious energy strategy plan to combat its energy challenges and promote a sustainable and inclusive future. The plan aims to eliminate load shedding and ensure electricity access for all residents.

Three Core Objectives

The city’s mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, identifies three key goals at the heart of the strategy: ending load shedding, reducing poverty, and optimizing energy efficiency. The plan proposes a future-fit municipal electricity service, infrastructure upgrades, and initiatives to help residents benefit from the evolving energy market.

Adding 650MW of Power

Cape Town plans to add approximately 650MW of power within the next five years and establish 1GW of independent power in the long term. The city’s comprehensive approach includes prioritizing reliable, cost-effective, and carbon-neutral energy sources.

Key Measures

To reach the 1GW target, Cape Town proposes several measures, such as sourcing 200MW of power from independent power producers, generating 500MW of dispatchable energy through renewable energy power plants, energy wheeling up to 350MW, and generating up to 20MW of city-owned small-scale embedded generation.

Short-Term Mitigation Measures

For the shorter term, the city’s plan includes the Steenbras Hydro Plant, 500MW of dispatchable energy, and demand response programs. The city aims to curb large power users and implement the Power Heroes project, which involves voluntary incentives and remote switching of high-use appliances during peak times.

Addressing Energy Poverty

The energy strategy outlines measures to address energy poverty, such as enhancing the grid and reforming subsidies, providing a Free Basic Alternative Energy Policy for informal households, and piloting public lighting solutions for underserved settlements.

Future-Fit Municipal Electricity Utility

Councillor Beverly van Reenen, the mayoral committee member for energy, believes the plan will lead to increased load shedding mitigation and a future-fit electricity utility. The plan envisions the city’s electricity business model transitioning from sole reliance on electricity sales to an increasingly competitive regional energy market.

Fostering a Thriving Local Energy Market

The strategy aims to empower entrepreneurs, youth, and job seekers by committing to publish updated energy data on the City Open Data Portal annually. This initiative is expected to support a thriving local energy market.

A Shared Energy Future

The City of Cape Town’s energy strategy demonstrates its dedication to creating a resilient and equitable energy landscape for its residents. The city continues to seek public input on the draft plan until 31 July 2023, demonstrating its commitment to a shared, sustainable, and inclusive energy future.