Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced that the City of Cape Town will design, build and operate a R1.2 billion solar PV plant with battery storage capable of providing up to a full stage of load shedding protection.
This is one of two projects awarded support from the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), which offers cities technical and financial assistance in support of a green and just transition.
This comes as Eskom announced on Monday that stages 5 and 6 load shedding would continue until further notice due to breakdowns at facilities and two generators being taken offline for repairs.
From Tuesday 5am, Stage 5 load shedding will be implemented until 4pm and Stage 6 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm until 5am daily. This pattern will be repeated “until further notice”, according to Eskom.
The City said the CFF initiative is funded by the German, French and UK governments.
Hill-Lewis says: “It gives me great pleasure to announce that the City’s Paardevlei ground-mounted solar PV and battery storage project just outside Somerset West will yield up to 60MW of renewable energy – enough to protect against one full stage of Eskom’s load shedding.
“The C40 CFF will support the project team in their efforts to undertake a technical feasibility study. This project is another critical step in our journey away from Eskom reliance and towards a load-shedding-free Cape Town.
“We are confident that Cape Town will be the first metro to free our economy from power disruptions, and ensure a green and just energy transition,” he adds.
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