Cape Town completes R14.6 million solar project

The City of Cape Town (CoCT) has announced the completion of a 990kWp renewable energy project at the Kraaifontein Wastewater Treatment Plant, part of a project to decrease municipal facilities’ dependence on Eskom’s electricity supply.

The project is called the small-scale embedded generation programme (SSEG), and the city has invested R20.6 million in three renewable energy plants at municipal facilities so far.

These include the Kraaifontein project, a 330kWp project at the Goodwood Transport Management Centre, and a 125kWp project at the Gugulethu Electricity Depot.

Construction on the R14.6 million Kraaifontein project began at the end of 2023 and was completed by May this year.

The plant is expected to generate an annual energy yield of 1.5 GWh, providing the city R2.4 million in electricity savings.

“This programme contributes toward the reduction of greenhouse gases by providing an alternative to electricity generated from fossil fuels,” Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Alderman Xanthea Limberg said.

“It will assist South Africa to begin demonstrating its commitment to meeting international obligations by reducing its emissions.”

CoCT announced that it will spend over R4 billion in the next three years upgrading and maintaining its electricity grid infrastructure to ensure it can handle a decentralised energy future as part of the 2024/25 budget.

The metro said it aimed to add 1 GW of independent power supply over time, with a short-term goal of being able to protect against four stages of load-shedding by 2026.