Energy

Batteries could make a difference.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) may become part of the arsenal of the City of Cape Town in its battle against loadshedding. Although BESS only makes up a small part of the national energy plan (Integrated Resource Plan 2019), if combined with renewables, it could prove a useful complement to the city’s other plans.

At the launch of the 2022 Solar Power Africa Conference, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis unveiled plans for the city to procure 300MW of power from independent power producers. The city – and the province – intend to be the first entities to be freed from the stresses and strains that come with loadshedding. It was estimated in 2021 that loadshedding cost the Western Cape economy R75-million per stage, per day.

Tenders for the city have been opened and at provincial level, 24 municipalities have now been given the legal go-ahead to allow for private generation of solar PV energy. In addition, 19 of those municipalities allow private generators to be compensated for feeding back into the grid, a major breakthrough for the potential take-up by the public.

A Request for Information for the Municipal Energy Resilience (MER) initiative has been issued, which has generated interest from more than 100 potential energy generation projects. MER has been rolled out in six municipalities, Drakenstein, Mossel Bay, Overstrand, Saldanha Bay, Stellenbosch and Swartland. The Green Economy Unit in the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism is leading the project.

The Green Economy Unit is not the Western Cape Provincial Government’s only investment in resilience. A market intelligence report covering energy, renewable energy, water and waste was created by GreenCape to map the assets and challenges in these areas.

In addition to trying to attract green investment into the province, the Western Cape is working for improved regulations related to smallscale embedded generation (SSEG). The City of Cape Town also wants to be able to rent out its infrastructure to a power producer who can supply a user via that infrastructure. This is known as “wheeling”. A start was made with the Darling wind farm, but more work needs to be done on the legislative framework.

New gas sources

The Western Cape is lobbying hard for the national Department of Energy to allow Saldanha Bay to be a site for a gas-to-power plant. If a gas plant is built at Saldanha, then it could be a catalyst for the use of gas in many other sectors such as manufacturing and residential.

Recent gas finds by TotalEnergies off the coast of Mossel Bay and off the west coast will accelerate the drive to switch to gas.

The idea of home-owners being able to sell surplus electricity from rooftop solar systems was previously restricted to the Cape metropolitan area. The application of the provincial government’s Energy Security Game Changer has expanded this provision (via bylaws) to the whole province.

The City of Cape Town has signed an agreement with the United States Agency for International Development and the Southern Africa Energy Programme to look for ways to make solar PV more accessible. High costs of installation often preclude residents from taking the solar PV option for their homes.

The Western Cape is positioning itself as a green business hub and is working to find energy alternatives for households and businesses. Greater Cape Town is home to 70% of South Africa’s manufacturers of renewable components.

GreenCape is an agency that does research and runs projects in areas such as energy efficiency, waste, water and sustainable agriculture. It is a joint initiative of the City of Cape Town, Wesgro and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape.

GreenCape states that nearly R700-million in green technology investments has already been attracted to the Atlantis Special Economic Zone, creating 300 jobs. A further R3.7-billion is anticipated by 2030, which will add more than 3 000 new jobs. Spanish wind tower manufacturer Gestamp Renewable Industries was an early investor in the zone.

The Koeberg nuclear power station 30km north of Cape Town is South Africa’s, and Africa’s, only nuclear power station. The 1 840MW plant is due to have its steam generators replaced

Online Resources

Atlantis Special Economic Zone: www.atlantissez.com

GreenCape: www.greencape.co.za

South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre: www.saretec.org.za

South African Wind Energy Association: www.sawea.org.za in 2022, a necessary condition for having its licence extended beyond 2024. It was commissioned in 1985.

The early rounds of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) continue to produce regular dividends.

The Paardekraal East Wind Farm, which is located about 80km north-east of Ceres, is in the Witzenberg Local Municipality. The 110MW project was constructed by the Concor and Conco Consortium, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy supplied and installed the wind turbines, the towers were built by GRI in Atlantis and Mainstream Asset Management South Africa will manage the operations.

The support of two of South Africa’s biggest institutional investors, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), has been crucial in getting the renewable energy sector off the ground. They have also helped communities fund their participation in community trusts. Typically, a community trust is established to represent the interests of the local community.

Investments made by African people into the renewable energy programme are not limited to community trusts. Pele Green Energy is engaged with a photovoltaic plant at Touwsrivier in the Western Cape as a shareholder and as a provider of construction management services. ■