Procurement of 7 MW solar plant Cape Town
South Africa, Cape Town: The City of Cape Town has issued the tender for the engineering, procurement and construction of its planned 7 MW solar PV plant.
Image source: ESI Africa
South Africa, Cape Town: The City of Cape Town has issued the tender for the engineering, procurement and construction of its planned 7 MW Atlantis solar PV plant.
The closing date is 25 October 2022, 10 a.m. (SAST).
The City plans to build its first grid-connected solar plant next year as one of its long-term interventions to end loadshedding. The facility will be connected directly to the City’s electrical network. The City has suggested construction of similar plants across the Metro as a way for it to prevent power outages from affecting its electricity customers.
The power plant would start generating electricity in 2024 and be in operation for 20 years, with a foreseen annual output of 14,7 GWh.
The City currently purchases most of its electricity from Eskom. However, it says high Eskom price escalations expected in future may not be financially sustainable for its residents. It is expected that the Atlantis solar plant will enhance the City’s financial sustainability as the cost of generating the electricity would be lower than the bulk procurement from Eskom. Reducing the dependency on Eskom also means the City can develop and explore more climate-friendly power sources than Eskom’s coal-fired power stations.
“This is another decisive step that the City is taking toward a more secure, cheaper and cleaner energy future for the people of Cape Town. Apart from the City’s own build generation, strides have also been made to enable independent power production and small-scale embedded generation,” said Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis.
Source: ESI Africa