CAPE TOWN - The City of Cape Town’s independent power procurement process for up to 300MW is now open, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced on Wednesday.
Hill-Lewis made the announcement during the opening of the Solar Power Africa conference, currently taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
“Over the coming months, the City of Cape Town will procure up to 300MW of renewable energy,” Hill-Lewis said.
“The City will be considering proposals from IPPs for projects between 5–20MW 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.”
Over and above the push to procure new capacity in the first tender process, a second tender for dispatchable generation projects over 20MW, which can be brought online in a short space of time, will follow, Hill-Lewis said.
He said it was crucial to the City that it was not only able to keep the lights on during off-peak times, but that they were able to supply households and businesses with electricity when demand was at its highest.
Mayco member for energy, Beverley van Reenen said: “The City of Cape Town has shown its commitment to energy security 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.”
The tender documents are available on the City’s website: https://web1.capetown.gov.za/web1/TenderPortal/Tender
Cape Times