Cape Town is set to become the first city in South Africa to own and operate its own solar plant.  

Construction is now underway on the city’s own 7 MW facility, which will have potential to scale up to 10 MW. It is located in the town of Atlantis, around 40 km north of the city.  The Lesedi Technoserve consortium is responsible for engineering, procurement and construction. The ZAR 200 million ($11.3 million) project is expected to take about a year to build, after which it will be connected directly to the grid.   

According to a statement from the Cape Town government, there are plans to roll out similar projects across the area in the coming years. It has committed to investing ZAR 39.5 billion between July 2024 and June 2027 in infrastructure.   

The municipal government has also issued its first battery storage tender, for a 5 MW/8 MWh battery energy storage system to be constructed at the same site. Applications are open until Nov. 20.  Both projects form part of the city's 2050 Energy Strategy. Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the solar plant is vital, “as we face another massive Eskom price hike.”  

“The city currently uses 75% of the tariff income from our electricity sales to buy Eskom power,” Hill-Lewis explained. “With the continued Eskom-price escalations, the most recent being an almost 44% hike requested, we simply have to diversify the energy resources. These hikes are not sustainable for the city or our residents and we will continue to fight against these exorbitant increases.”  

Earlier this year, the city of Cape Town tried to reduce waiting times for certificates to install residential solar and battery systems by launching an online solar authorization portal.

* Source: pv magazine