Cape Town launches tenders to procure of 300 MW of renewable energy

The Mayor of City of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, has today announced that the city is forging ahead with plans to procure renewable energy from independent power producers with tenders being launched today for procurement of 300MW of power from mostly solar.

Hill-Lewis made the announcement at the Solar Power Africa conference currently taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. 

“I am very proud to announce that the city is opening its first round of procurement of power from independent power producers. The tender documents for this procurement will be made available on the city’s website today – and in fact they are already up and available this morning,” said the Mayor of City of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis.

The launch of Cape Town’s first round of renewable energy procurement comes after the city made the announcement two weeks ago that they will launch the process, following successive schedules of power blackouts in South Africa which have been costing the city and the country of much needed power for economic recovery.

Eskom endorsement

Eskom, the state owned national utility which supplies almost all of City of Cape Town’s electricity requirements, has been battling to guarantee security of electricity supply as its ageing coal fleet experience constant breakdowns and performance failures. 

The CEO of Eskom, Mr André de Ruyter, met with Cape Town Mayor this week and gave his support for Cape Town’s plans to source more power for independent power producers to cover from Eskom’s shortfalls and shield itself from power rations implemented by Eskom. Should Cape Town’s plans succeed, the city could become South Africa’s first city to be load-shedding free.

“Market liberalisation will allow Eskom to build a commercially sustainable operation, centred on a strong transmission grid, while ensuring that South Africans have access to reliable and affordable electricity,” Hill-Lewis said in a statement.