# CoCT makes renewables power play, partners with US for R12m feasibility study

- Link: https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/2020/02/18/coct-makes-renewables-power-play-partners-with-us-for-r12m-feasibility-study/
- Published: 2020-02-18T14:00:29+02:00
- Author: dearSA

![](https://cdn.dearsouthafrica.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/20191149/Screenshot-
96.png "Screenshot (96)")

Cape Town – Emboldened by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that  municipalities
will be able to procure their own power from independent power producers (IPPs),
the City has started the ball rolling by signing a grant agreement worth more than
R12 million with the US Trade and Development Agencies to conduct a feasibility 
study on a natural gas distribution network for Cape Town.

The DA-controlled administration has been fighting since 2015 for municipalities
to secure their own electricity.DA spokesperson on public enterprises Ghaleb Cachalia
said the party was calling on Ramaphosa to immediately drop his government’s opposition
to the City’s court case seeking Section 34 permission and grant approval within
seven days.

The City will then prove to be the case study of an excellently governed municipality
procuring directly and keeping the lights on and the economy going. “If Ramaphosa
is serious, the national government will stop fighting the City in court and start
issuing these notices immediately,” he said.

According to the City, the future of energy lies in greater decentralisation and
diversification of generation with complementary technologies such as gas and renewables
providing lower cost and cleaner solutions.

Mayor Dan Plato said: “The City has been putting pressure on the government for 
many years to reshape the energy regime in South Africa to the benefit of our people
and businesses. The City is a staunch proponent of more affordable, secure, cleaner
and diversified energy sources.”

The City will first need to complete a City-developed Integrated Resource Plan (
IRP) to best optimise the supply and demand options.

“We are undertaking a study to determine how best to overcome energy poverty, through
various projects such as installing solar kits, solar-home systems, increasing free
basic electricity, improving access to gas, among others. Improving access to affordable
electricity is a key deliverable that we are investigating at the moment.”

On Thursday, President Ramaphosa, in his State of the Nation address, said: “We 
will negotiate supplementary power purchase agreements to acquire additional capacity
from existing wind and solar plants. We will also put in place measures to enable
municipalities in good financial standing to procure their own power from independent
power producers.”

Plato said broad statements were not enough. “It is not going to suffice in this
critical situation that we all find ourselves in and which is as a result of Eskom
and national government’s failure to effectively manage energy supply in South Africa.
Cape Town is eager to help residents survive the ongoing load shedding, but we need
details as soon as possible on when we can start procuring from IPPs.”

Energy analyst Ted Blom said: “Government has been grappling with Eskom and electricity
issues since 2001 and attempted to solve the problem through an unsuccessful effort
to entice the private sector into building power stations under a capped rate of
return. There are more questions around the legislative amendments.”

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