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The business community in the Steve Tshwete local municipality of Mpumalanga, which encompasses Middelburg, have been urged to align their product and service offerings to the opportunities being created by the energy transition and the associated socioeconomic initiatives aimed at cushioning vulnerable coal communities and workers.

The Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry convened a conference this week under the theme ‘Just Energy Transition – Just for Business’ with a focus on the potential spinoffs for Mpumalanga firms from Eskom’s repowering and repurposing of those coal stations that are scheduled to close in the coming few years.

Besides Komati, which will shut entirely later this year and which has been designated as the flagship site for Eskom’s so-called Just Energy Transition (JET) strategy, the utility is also preparing to close Hendrina, Camden and Grootvlei before the end of 2027.

Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Anna-Marth Ott tells Engineering News that business remains anxious about the implications of the closure of coal mines and power stations, but that there is also a growing appreciation of some of the possible business opportunities.

She is concerned, however, that most of the JET debates continue to take place outside of areas such as the Steve Tshwete municipality, which is “surrounded by the coal mining industry and Eskom power stations”.

“We believe many of the conversations are being held with the wrong people and that there are existing businesses and individuals with skills in this area that don’t only have ‘skin in the game’ for the long term, but the skills needed to translate the opportunities into real enterprises and jobs.”

Eskom senior manager Sumaya Nassiep, who addressed the conference, argued that there was potential to use the JET strategy to reignite local manufacturing and stimulate enterprise development in the province.

Opportunities could arise directly from the repowering initiatives by, for instance, creating factories to produce components for new wind and solar facilities, as well as through the provision of services to these power plants.

Nassiep said there was specific potential in the manufacture and assembly of photovoltaic (PV) modules, inverters, transformers, battery energy storage system components, steel PV mounting structures, transmission and distribution poles and towers and, in the medium term, in battery recycling.

Maintenance services would also be required at the new renewable-energy plants, such as non-destructive testing of components or the cleaning of PV panels.

Certain existing supply-chain products and services would also remain relevant, such as the provision of high-voltage yard components and maintenance, as well as services such as general cleaning, catering, hospitality, the provision of personal protective equipment and security.

Eskom also saw a role for local business in supporting the socioeconomic interventions that would be pursued under the JET to support vulnerable communities, including skills upliftment programmes and the incubation of small firms linked either directly to repowering initiatives, or to repurposing projects in other sectors, such as agriculture.

At Komati, for instance, the repurposing embraced technical training for the renewable industry, agrivoltaics and aquaponics projects and the assembly of microgrids for sale and deployment in areas where it was too expensive to extend the national grid.

The repowering initiatives, meanwhile, include solar, battery and wind projects and possibly a gas-to-power facility.

In Mpumalanga more broadly, Eskom was releasing useable land parcels around its power stations for renewables projects and was in negotiation with an initial 18 successful bidders that responded to its first request for proposals issued in April.

However, Nassiep also said there was a risk that existing businesses in the area failed to diversify timeously and align their product and/or service of...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged that the current load-shedding crisis is a “calamity of enormous proportions” but has backed Ministers Gwede Mantashe and Pravin Gordhan after the leader of the opposition asked why the two Ministers had not been dismissed in light of their role in the “most costly failure in our country's history”.

Highlighting that the country was in the midst of its worst-ever year for load-shedding, despite an assurance given by Ramaphosa in 2015 that the problem would be all but “forgotten” within 18 to 24 months, Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen asked at “what level of sustained load-shedding” would the President consider firing the Mineral Resources and Energy and Public Enterprises Ministers respectively.

In response, Ramaphosa insisted that the rotational power cuts were “not the wilful or planned intention of anyone who works in the State system” including the two Ministers.

“This has been a calamity of enormous proportions, which we all admit.

“I mean just two weeks ago to have almost 50% of our electricity generation capacity just collapsing, one after the other and the next and the next, it's not something that was planned by the Ministers or the CEO,” the President said, while also acknowledging that mistakes had been made.

“Everybody is focused [on solving the crisis], from the two Ministers . and including all the executives that have been put under tremendous pressure to address this.

“We are going to be making some announcements, and we hope and trust and believe that will then take us forward,” he said, without giving details but most likely in reference to the upcoming reconstitution of the Eskom board.

He stressed that he had genuinely believed in 2015 that load-shedding would be brought under control in the period outlined and that his confidence had been based on information at the time which suggested that Medupi and Kusile would bring relief to the strained system.

“Lo and behold where we are today.

“But it has not been the wilful and clearly planned intention of anyone that I work with,” he stressed, adding that the crisis had been exacerbated by corruption and criminality, including the theft of cables.

“Nobody in the country is happy with load-shedding, including myself, and we are working on it.”

PUBLIC GOOD

Ramaphosa also asserted that electricity would remain a “public good” regardless of the restructuring under way at Eskom and the fact that more electricity was being produced by private companies and independent power producers (IPPs).

The restructuring of Eskom, he outlined, would ensure that the transmission grid and the system operator, which he described as the backbone of the electricity industry, remained under full State ownership and control, while additional private and public generators and distributors were introduced.

Plans were also under development to ensure that Eskom grew its own renewables footprint, but that the utility’s debt burden was constraining it from immediately building such capacity.

“In order for Eskom to do that, it needs the financial resources.

“And right now, the financial resources are with the private sector,” he said.

However, the policy space had also been opened for municipalities to either generate electricity directly or to procure electricity from IPPs.

Ramaphosa described the restructuring and unbundling of Eskom as a way of de-risking the electricity supply industry from its current reliance on the performance of a monopoly business.

“We are living through that risk right now, because we've got only one company that generates for the whole nation.

“As I fly at night from Cape Town to Pretoria, or from Pretoria to Cape Town, I just see the lights on in the many towns in our country and the fear I continue to have is that it's only one company that is generating that.

“I say this is very risky, extremely risky, whichever way you look at it; even if you look at it ideologically, it is a real dangerous risk.

“And th...

The Smart Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) consortium has launched its first ‘SESA Call for Entrepreneurs’ funding round.

Small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly women-led, with a focus on sustainable energy solutions in Ghana, Malawi, Morocco and South Africa, are encouraged to apply.

As a consortium partner, Siemens Stiftung will provide the selected entrepreneurs with funding ranging from €50 000 (R850 000), up to €70 000 (R1.2-million) per business over an 18-month period, and an opportunity to join the SESA Incubator Programme.

“The call leverages social entrepreneurs’ talents, skills, and innovations to not only address climate change, but to also pave the way for social and economic development in rural areas,” says Siemens Stiftung MD Dr Nina Smidt.

“Women are at the heart of this transformation. Supporting female-led enterprises enables the inclusion of vulnerable groups more at climate risk, and in the process accelerates the realisation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.”

Reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy access has been a challenge for rural communities in Africa.

SESA, a European Commission-funded project, aims to test, validate and later replicate innovative solutions, as well as business models, to accelerate the green transition across Africa.

The SESA project was launched in October, 2021, with a duration of 48 months and is operational in nine African countries, namely Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania.

“The uYilo e-Mobility Programme is a SESA partner and the lead for the South African validation project,” says uYilo director Hiten Parmar.

“South African entrepreneurs successful in securing their place in this project will benefit from access to funding for scaling technology solutions, but also development through the incubator programme and technical and business mentorship."

"[It] is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to provide sustainable solutions that improve access to energy in remote areas,” adds uYilo programme manager Edem Foli.

“This funding is available in a focused, goal-oriented environment which can propel a small business much faster than it could possibly achieve working alone. We encourage all entrepreneurs to make application for this project.”

The ‘Call for Entrepreneurs’ programme closes on November 20.

Zero Carbon Charge (ZeroCC) is unashamedly pro-electric vehicle (EV), but believes that driving an EV only makes a difference when charged by renewable energy.

ZeroCC director Andries Malherbe says that charging an EV through the conventional energy on tap in South Africa – in other words, Eskom power, generated from its fleet of coal-fired plants ­– will do very little to alleviate the poor air quality in the country.

“Currently in South Africa, a diesel car emits 8.6 t carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) a year and a petrol car 4.4 t, based on an average driving distance of 25 000 km a year,” he explains.

“As it stands, an electric car powered by the current South African grid would emit more CO2e (5.8 t) than a petrol engine car (4.4 t), driven over the same distance of 25 000 km a year.”

By contrast, an EV charged with green power would emit zero CO2e, says Malherbe.

“This means every EV recharged with green chargers will save 5.8 t of CO2e a year on average.”

In ZeroCC’s case, green chargers refer largely to chargers powered by solar energy.

Generating and using solar energy will also circumvent the highly unreliable Eskom grid, prone to frequent load-shedding ­– one of the reasons cited most by consumers for their unwillingness to shift to EVs.

The team of Malherbe and ZeroCC co-founder and director Joubert Roux aims to roll out 120 solar-powered charging stations across the country’s highways and regional routes, at about 150 km apart, all with ultra-fast EV chargers.

While EV sales are currently rather dismal in South Africa, at 218 battery electric units last year, the world is rapidly moving to electric mobility, and South Africa is set to follow suit, says Roux.

ZeroCC believes there could be as many as 1.3-million to 1.5-million passenger and light commercial EVs on South Africa’s roads by 2032, should visible, extensive and tangible fast-charging infrastructure be put in place.

“This volume will represent 15% of all registered vehicles and will save more than 2.7-million tons of CO2e a year," says Roux.

To date, ZeroCC has visited more than 200 possible charging sites.

Most of them are located at established small businesses like farm stalls, hotels and restaurants, situated along several routes criss-crossing South Africa.

The aim, explains Malherbe, is for EV users to have access to fast charging across the country, and not just the main metropoles or national highways.

“Should this be the case, EV use will remain restricted to cities.”

Roux says ZeroCC has already engaged the relevant landowners on a number of sites, and that various environmental assessments and applications are in process in all nine provinces.

“We plan to start with construction of the first four charge stops in the first quarter of next year.”

The first two will be in Klipheuwel and Dassiesfontein, in the Western Cape.

Some of the sites will be greenfield projects, while others will make use of existing infrastructure, such as farm stalls/rest stops.

Any surplus power generated at the sites can be used by the land owner.

The general aim is for an EV to charge from 20% to 80% in 25 minutes, and for the car user to pay cash, or per credit or debit card, with no special card or payment method as is currently the case at EV chargers, notes Roux.

ZeroCC, founded in 2021, is funding the project internally, and is seeking the aid of development finance institutions and new partners as they roll out their network.

It is estimated that every charge station will cost around R10-million.

Each site will have bathrooms, a food and retail offering, four vehicle chargers and around 1 500 m2 in solar panels.

Site security will be paramount, notes Malherbe, as is job creation within local communities.

Roux estimates that it may take between four to six years before ZeroCC shows any profit.

The partnership of Roux and Malherbe has its roots in the development of a solar farm in the Northern Cape, as well as two proposed wind farms in Round 6 of the Renewable...

Mercedes-Benz South Africa co-CEO Mark Raine has urged South Africa to move with greater speed in finalising its electric vehicle (EV) support framework, which he argues should be “holistic” and include measures that both sustain local production and stimulate domestic demand.

The South African government has already indicated that it plans to support a manufacturing transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to so-called new energy vehicles, including EVs, and is currently consulting on a roadmap for the sector.

It has also indicated that its approach is likely to be production- rather than consumption-led and that it will seek to build on the Automotive Production and Development Programme rather than replace it.

The immediate focus under the proposed roadmap will be on safeguarding the country’s export markets, which are aggressively transitioning away from the ICE vehicles that the South African industry currently assembles.

The UK and the European Union currently absorb some 45% of South Africa’s yearly passenger vehicle production and both markets have announced that they will bar the sale of ICE vehicles and soft hybrids from 2030 and 2035 respectively.

In an interview with Engineering News, Raine said that ongoing domestic production did definitely require attention.

“[But] we need to look at it holistically. We need to look at production, but we also strongly need to look at the consumer market and everything that comes on the back of that.”

He added that, given the high proportion of exports from the industry of about 95%, a greater balance was required by growing domestic consumption.

PRICE PARITY

Raine is particularly keen for South Africa to embrace “price parity”, by reducing the prevailing import duties on EVs from 25% to the 18% currently in place on ICE imports.

“What we need to have in the South African context is not to put an EV at a disadvantage, and if we rule that out, I think we as manufacturers and sellers of these vehicles can convince any consumer of the benefits of electric vehicle besides the obvious environmental aspects.”

The key argument in favour of EVs, once there was parity, would relate to the cost of ownership, which would “more than offset” the initial higher capital cost, or the higher monthly instalments.

“Therefore, for me the main request is do not disadvantage electric vehicles.”

Raine said the other element required for stimulating domestic demand related to infrastructure, especially charging infrastructure.

Given South Africa’s current load-shedding crisis, he said the expansion of the EV market should be closely aligned with a domestic energy transition in which solar plays a far more prominent role in providing the energy required for charging.

“South Africa has all the necessary prerequisites for the EV revolution, but it has to go hand in hand with solar energy.

“We cannot rely on traditional electricity sources, there needs to be transformation in both areas and its vitally important to have solar energy, including solar charging stations,” he argued, reporting that about half of Mercedes-Benz EV customers were already self-sufficient with regards their electricity, while the other 50% were considering their solar options.

Raine expressed enthusiasm for a speedy resolution to the policy debate, saying that while South Africa was in a good position to learn from markets that had already moved assertively to finalise their EV strategies, policy certainty was required to facilitate implementation and investment.

He also argued in favour of government adopting a “holistic ecosystem” approach, whereby the value of automotive manufacturing was assessed not only by the economic value and jobs created in production, but also took account of the associated spinoffs in finance, sales, information technology, servicing and the aftermarket.

Speaking ahead of the interview at an event hosted at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, in Johannesburg, acting director-gen...

Eskom has confirmed that the change to the schedule for replacing the six steam generators at the Koeberg nuclear power station, will have an impact on the cost of the life-extension project, which was originally estimated at R20-billion.

This confirmation was provided during a joint meeting of the portfolio committees on mineral resources and energy and on public enterprises, convened to deliberate on a complaint made by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) regarding what the union claims to have been the unfair suspension of three senior Koeberg employees.

Acting chief nuclear officer Keith Featherstone told lawmakers that the delays had not altered the scope of the overall life extension plan, of which the replacement of the steam generators is a “critical enabler”.

Eskom is aiming to extend the life of the Koeberg power station for an additional 20 years beyond its current licence period, which expires on July 31, 2024.

Featherstone reported that unexpected “compensation events”, including a R650-million payment ordered by the Constitutional Court, and contract price adjustment increases would have an impact on the cost of the specific steam-generator replacement allocation, which was still in the process of being finalised.

The original cost estimate of R20-billion, he added, was done under 2010 parameters.

“If reassessed in today’s values, it would be significantly different,” he reported, without providing a revised cost estimate.

“Eskom takes foreign exchange (forex) annually, and forex is rolled over every year.

“This has cost Eskom over R1.5 billion, [while] interest during construction charges are significant because of the extended project duration, influencing the overall cost,” Featherstone added.

Koeberg Unit 2’s three steam generators were meant to have been replaced as part of an extended maintenance programme initiated in January, but the project was deferred to October 2023 after it emerged that Eskom had failed to finalise the construction of the facilities required to house the old steam generators once removed.

Eskom attributed the delay to poor project management, inadequate contract management and a lack of financial discipline and placed three senior managers on precautionary suspension with full pay while an independent investigation was concluded.

NUM represents one of those managers and disputes Eskom’s claims, alleging that the delays were largely the fault of the main contractor, Framatome of France.

Eskom expects the investigation to be completed by the end of September, but lawmakers have convened meetings on the issue after NUM made a direct complaint of unfair and discriminatory actions against the suspended individuals.

Featherstone said that both Eskom and the contractor had contributed to the project-execution deficiencies that had already trigger “compensation events” and several disputes, which were still being adjudicated.

“The main arguments against Eskom by the contractor are associated with the facilities that were not ready.

“This project has been on the go for a long time and there was actually no excuse from an Eskom point of view for these facilities not to be ready.

“So, Eskom is finding itself in a very difficult position to actually defend some of these compensation events,” Featherstone admitted.

However, NUM described the Koeberg life-extension project as one fo the few Eskom projects to have been “properly managed” and alleges that the fault lies with the Eskom executive, rather than the project manager.

The union asserts that eh decision to delay Outage 225, during which the three Unit 2 steam generators were meant to be replaced, was not the fault of the projects managers, but was instead designed to facilitate a “payment agreement” concluded between Eskom and Framatome executives.

Eskom disputes this arguing that the delay was the result of “several serious deficiencies in the front-end loading of the project that would have caused significant delays to the outage a...

Average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new cars registered in Europe dropped by 12% in 2020 compared with the year before, says a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The main reason for the sharp decline was a surge in the share of electric vehicle (EV) registrations compared with internal combustion engine vehicle sales.

The share of EV registrations tripled from 3.5% in 2019, to 11.6% in 2020 (including 6.2% battery electric vehicles and 5.4% plug-in hybrid electric vehicles).

Despite the shrinking overall market for new cars owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the total number of new electric cars registered in 2020 increased to more than one-million.

The EEA adds that about 1.4-million new vans were registered in Europe in 2020, with the average emissions 1.9% lower than in 2019.

The share of electric van sales increased from 1.4% in 2019, to 2.3% in 2020.

Amid intense load-shedding, which has been under way continuously since early September and has at times been implemented at Stage 6, President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that there is “no quick fix” to the problem, which he says has “a long history”.

Writing in his weekly newsletter a week after having cut short a working visit abroad, notably his participation in the seventy-seventh Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the President acknowledged widespread public anger, which he described as “wholly justified”.

While conspicuously refraining from criticising the current Eskom leadership, the President said: “Given the unpredictable performance of Eskom’s fleet of coal-fired power stations, we will not be able to eliminate loadshedding in the short term. This is the unfortunate reality of our situation, which has had a long history.”

No elaboration was provided by Ramaphosa regarding this “long history”, but it has been widely reported that government’s failure to ensure that new capacity was built timeously in line with Eskom’s warnings that such capacity would be required before 2010 is a key cause of the current crisis.

LONG HISTORY?

Once the build programme eventually began in 2007, it soon emerged to be extremely poorly planned, with execution further hampered by design defects and corruption.

By 2008, load-shedding was introduced as the old plants started feeling the effects of being operated at an energy utilisation factor well above the global average.

The problem was amplified by massive delays and cost overruns at Medupi and Kusile and Ingula, leading to warnings by energy analysts in about 2014 that the energy availability factor of the old coal fleet would continue to decline unless new capacity was added to create the space needed to conduct maintenance.

Instead, the then Eskom leadership at the utility doubled down by refusing to enter into new power purchase agreements with independent power producers, claiming a return to a surplus operating position.

Policy inertia followed until 2018, when renewables projects that were procured in 2014 where eventually allowed to proceed.

However, procurement of additional capacity was delayed by the finalisation of the updated Integrated Resource Plan, which was eventually Gazetted in October 2019.

It then took months before Ministerial determinations required to facilitate further procurement were published and the fifth bid window of the renewables bidding round was eventually initiated only in April 2021.

To date, only three wind projects of the 25 projects named as preferred projects in October, have signed power purchase agreements, but none have as yet progressed to financial close.

All the while, the new Medupi and Kusile units have been underperforming, while the extended maintenance required to prepare Koeberg for a life extension has been poorly implemented leaving one unit out of operation for most of 2022, adding one stage of load-shedding whenever power cuts have been implemented.

The crisis has been made substantially worse in recent years by strikes, sabotage and ongoing corruption at certain stations.

3.6 TWH OF CUTS ALREADY

Eskom statistics plotted by Clyde Mallinson show that there has been 3.6 TWh of load-shedding for the 2022 year-to-date, double the 1.8 TWh of cuts for the whole of 2021, which was previously recorded as South Africa’s worst-ever year for load-shedding.

Depending on the cost of unserved energy used, Mallinson estimates the cost to the economy for the year to date to be between R72-billion and R360-billion.

The performance has ramped up pressure on government to intervene at Eskom, but Ramaphosa argued in his letter that addressing breakdowns represents a “significant challenge given the average age of power stations, and that in the past critical maintenance was not undertaken at the necessary intervals”.

Nevertheless, he added that government was giving close attention to the skills, experience and capabilities of the Esko...

A group of entrepreneurs on September 23 launched Africa’s first credit ratings agency, Sovereign Africa Ratings (SAR), based in Centurion.

The agency also published its first credit rating report on South Africa, grading it “BBB” with a stable outlook in the long term, and “B+” with a stable outlook in the short term, which constitutes investment grade.

Standard & Poor’s credit rating for South Africa stands at ‘BB-’ with a positive outlook. Fitch’s rating was last reported at ‘BB-’ with a stable outlook. Moody’s Investor Service has a ‘Ba2’ rating with a negative outlook on South Africa.

In its rating, SAR places emphasis on the South African government’s ability, capacity and proven track record to honour its debt obligations.

SAR’s credit rating model comprises of 82 variables, which also translate into risk determinants, including fiscal, economic, environment, governance, climate change and wealth generated by natural resources aspects.

SAR considered South Africa’ tax revenue generation, liquidity, external position and its amount of reserves relative to imports. The ratings agency finds that the country’s deteriorating and aging infrastructure hampers its economy and trade, as do its inefficient ports.

The country’s rising interest rates, weak exchange rates and rising inflation all have a bearing on its creditworthiness and performance.

SAR chief ratings officer David Mosaka finds South Africa’s economy is growing at a rate of 1.9% this year, and likely 1.4% next year, which is not conducive for meaningful employment creation or tax revenue generation.

The agency prides itself on considering projections, contingent liabilities, historical performance of indicators and prospects of government expenditure as some of its differentiating factors as a credit ratings agency.

Another differentiating factor of the agency is the significant weight it gives to mineral wealth as a performance indicator, especially for Africa and its well-endowed mineral resources.

Mosaka says as the agency grows in the market, it will generate sub-ratings for African countries.

He vows on behalf of the entity that it will not be characterised by conflict of interest, and will rather be prudent, thorough and objective in its research and analysis.

SAR chairperson Portia Ravhuhali says the ratings industry has not seen new entrants in the market for more than a century. The three giant ratings agencies of Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch have been around since 1860, 1909 and 1913, respectively, and have captured 95% of the credit ratings market.

She affirms SAR will be a catalyst of change in the African economy and help to restart its economic outlook. Ravhuhali believes SAR will undoubtedly impact on Africa’s financial system. “Our credibility is our only real currency. SAR commits to quality control procedures, well-researched methodologies and ethical business practices.”

SAR, with its nine board members, are at an advantage in that its permanent presence is in an emerging market and on the continent – close to the sources of information. Ravhuhali is confident that local experts have a deeper appreciation and insights into South Africa’s economic aspects, and can easily tap into more local understandings of assets.

“SAR have a unique vantage point to evaluate emerging economies, especially since on-the-ground, informal activity does not often get factored into real gross domestic product figures,” she explains, adding that SAR will zoom in on all kinds of economic activity that bears significance to credit ratings and economic performance, without long-existing prejudice and colonial perspectives that are often prevalent with other ratings agencies.

SAR CE Dr Sifiso Falala agrees, saying that hard-wired institutions often develop blind spots in evaluations, with some serving interest groups outside of the countries being evaluated.

He explains that questions have been raised about the three giant rating agencies’ efficacy, especially a...

The City of Cape Town plans to build its first grid-connected solar plant next year as one of its interventions to end load-shedding over time.

The city has issued the tender for the engineering, procurement and construction of a 7 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) facility in Atlantis.

The facility will be connected directly to the city's electrical network.

The city believes that the construction of similar plants across the metro could follow at a later stage.

“The power plant would start generating electricity in 2024 and be in operation for 20 years, with a foreseen annual output of 14.7 GWh,” says Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

“The city currently purchases most of its electricity from Eskom. High Eskom price escalations expected in future may not be financially sustainable for the city and its residents.

“It is expected that the Atlantis solar plant will enhance the city's financial sustainability, as the cost of generating the electricity would be lower than the bulk procurement from Eskom.”

Hill-Lewis says reducing the dependency on Eskom also means that the city can develop and explore more climate-friendly power sources than Eskom's coal-fired power stations.

“Apart from the city's own build generation, strides have also been made to enable independent power production and small-scale embedded generation,” he adds.

“In this financial year, R15-million has been allocated to pay for energy generated by small-scale embedded generators through the feed in tariff of 75.51c/kWh (excluding VAT) and the 25c/kWh incentive offered for small-scale embedded generators.

“I recently announced a policy shift allowing qualifying commercial and industrial electricity generators to sell energy to the city. The city also issued its first tender in a new independent power producer (IPP) programme which entails buying 200 MW from IPPs within the city's electricity supply area.”

The investment in construction of the Atlantis plant is expected to give the City of Cape Town a R47.2-million gross domestic product boost.