The City of Cape Town has announced its biggest power purchase tender yet, inviting bids for 500MW this week.
Also read: Cape Town ratepayers will see an increase of 17.6% in electricity tariffs
According to News24, the City is considering shorter contracts with private energy producers in an effort to ease the impact of loadshedding in Cape Town. The new tender is part of a three-phase procurement programme for loadshedding protection.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the City is on track to provide protection from the first four stages of Eskom’s loadshedding within the next three years. ‘We are confident that Cape Town will be the first metro to break free from Eskom, and in doing so, enable meaningful economic growth and investment that helps more people into work over time.’
The upcoming tender, which is one of many to be announced over the coming months, follows the city’s 200MW tender for renewables launched in February last year.
Also read:
South Africa’s electricity minister looks abroad to fix power crisis
Picture: Unsplash