The City of Tshwane is working on an Energy Action Plan to ensure energy security for residents and to attract investments to the Capital City.
Tshwane has set out an ambitious goal of achieving 1 000 MW of energy independence from Eskom by 2026.
Mayor Cilliers Brink and the Tshwane Economic Development Agency gathered industry leaders, policymakers and business stakeholders for a briefing in the lead-up to the inaugural Tshwane Energy Summit set to take place next month.
The City of Tshwane is charting an energy resilient future for its residents and believes this will become possible through a multi-stakeholder approach that will work to, over time, lessen reliance on Eskom.
“Our goal as the city is to by 2026 get a 1 000 MW of the 2 600 MW what we use as a city independent from Eskom. It is essential that we build capacity independent of the national government energy utility, even though we’ve had a couple of days of continuous no load shedding but a question really is, what happens after the elections because at present we are burning a great deal of diesel. We need energy for growth, we can’t keep on having the same energy supply but the fact that we have load shedding and an energy crisis in the country puts a cap of 2% GDP growth on our potential as a country,” says Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink.
The city is looking at attaining energy for economic growth and to position South Africa as a global player in the manufacturing space. It’s also considering recommissioning some of its facilities with the help of the private sector in energy generation, a move it believes will help achieve its energy independence.
“Tshwane being positioned where it is, how do we put the infrastructure in place to make sure that we can locate some of those manufacturing facilities here given that we are also a hub for the automotive sector in this region,” says CEO: SA Electrotechnical Export Council Chiboni Evans.
The city also has an energy task team that falls under the Tshwane Economic Development Agency. The team has been working with the business sector on energy interventions in Tshwane.
“One of the consistent and recurring issues and challenges that our business sector from big manufacturing companies to small home-based enterprises experience is load shedding and you typically get load shedding, consistent power supply and as we work on securing energy baseload and supply need. We are providing an opportunity environment which businesses can take long term investment decisions and take note of a future environment in which they operate,” says CEO: Tshwane Economic Development Agency’s Dr Lardo Stander.
Tshwane believes all the efforts will also lead to a drop in the prices of electricity, a cushion for consumers and businesses in a tough economy and a greater focus on infrastructure protection and development.
The city is looking to host its inaugural Tshwane Energy Summit on the 19 and 20th of June 2024.
