Cape Town Begins Construction on South Africa's First City-Owned Solar Plant

Cape Town is poised to become the first city in South Africa to independently own and operate a solar power plant.

Construction has commenced on a 7 MW facility that has the potential to expand to 10 MW, situated in Atlantis, approximately 40 km north of the city center.

The Lesedi Technoserve consortium has been tasked with the engineering, procurement, and construction of the project, which has an estimated budget of ZAR 200 million ($11.3 million). The project is anticipated to take about a year to complete before it is connected directly to the grid.

In a statement from the Cape Town government, plans for similar projects in the region are already in the pipeline. The city has committed to investing ZAR 39.5 billion in infrastructure from July 2024 to June 2027.

Additionally, the municipal government has issued its first tender for battery storage, seeking to establish a 5 MW/8 MWh battery energy storage system at the same location, with applications open until November 20.

Both initiatives are integral to the city’s 2050 Energy Strategy. Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis emphasized the importance of the solar plant, stating, “as we face another significant price increase from Eskom.”

“The city currently uses 75% of the tariff income from our electricity sales to buy Eskom power,” Hill-Lewis explained. “With the continued Eskom-price escalations, the most recent being an almost 44% hike requested, we simply have to diversify the energy resources. These hikes are not sustainable for the city or our residents and we will continue to fight against these exorbitant increases.”