City Power secures 92MW from independent power producers

The City of Johannesburg has secured 92MW of power from four independent power producers (IPPs) through a short-term power purchase agreement (STPPP).

City Power said this was part of its 10-point plan to reduce loadshedding.

Environment and infrastructure services MMC Jack Sekwaila, City Power board chairperson Bonolo Ramokhele and CEO Tshifularo Mashava told media on Thursday four IPPs would supply power from a variety of sources, including waste to energy, gas to power and photovoltaic (PV) solar generation.

Sekwaila said 16 bids were received and four were successful, with a total capacity of 92MW comprising of waste to energy (20MW), gas to power (31MW) and PV solar generation (40.8MW).

Mashava said City Power had made inroads to cushion Johannesburg residents from ongoing loadshedding. 

“The main benefit for the STPPPs is the city will procure power from the four successful bidders which are cheaper than what we procure from Eskom. Two bidders are ready to connect their energy source to our grid immediately,” she said.

City Power is also implementing other initiatives to reduce loadshedding.

These include the installation of PV systems at its head office to pilot the rollout to at least 700 other city sites, including the Joburg Market.

A panel of service providers will assist City Power in the rollout of alternative sources of energy and plans are under way to exploit the city’s roof space to install and interconnect PV systems to form a virtual power station. 

Since April, City Power has installed more than 50 solar high mast public lights in most non-affluent areas, including Soweto, Diepsloot, Alexandra and Orange Farm.

The entity is also working on implementing its Nersa-approved feed-in tariff, where customers with PV solar systems can feedback/import their excess power to the grid.

 - TimesLIVE