City undertakes plans to tackle load-shedding

The City of Ekurhuleni’s Department of Energy is close to releasing the Request for Proposal (RFPs) into looking at different ways of capacitating and having sustainable energy.

This was announced by the Finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga following the IDP and Budget Consultative Forum breakfast on May 12 at the Alberton Civic Centre.

During their get-together, businesses engaged extensively on the effect of load-shedding on economic activity and in the high rise of unemployment.

Dunga said the CoE is looking at ways of complementing and supplementing the 1 000 megawatts that are going to be needed to ultimately ensure that they deal with load-shedding.

“We need an additional 1 000 megawatts to end load-shedding. The biggest complaint was that the city does not communicate well in time when it comes to particularly unscheduled shutting down of electricity patterns.

“This makes it very difficult for businesses to plan according to unscheduled power outages. The scheduled ones would’ve been the load-shedding patterns that are enforced by Eskom,” he explained.

Adding to the grid is key

In an exclusive interview with the Alberton Record, he pointed out that they need to do much greater in terms of unearthing the communication lines between themselves and businesses.

“But in terms of capacitating the grid in itself, we have to look at independent power producers who are going to complement our own grid in ensuring that we at least get this 1 000 megawatt additional that is needed.

“That would then mean that certain areas would have to go off the grid from the Eskom line in itself and the city must be able to generate revenue having gone off the Eskom grid,” Dunga said.

The Department of Energy is said to be ‘very close’ to releasing the RFPs, looking at different ways of capacitating and having sustainable energy in any way.

“Whether it’s being gas or solar, or whatever it is that we can attain to add to the grid so that the city can be at such a point that we’re able to declare it as being one of the metros that are not affected by load-shedding,” he said.

According to Dunga, they would also be speaking to the energy department to submit a proposal to the council, so that council can take a decision that they engage Eskom for CBD areas and areas of manufacturing hubs to be exempted from load-shedding.

He told the Alberton Record this would ensure greater economic participation.

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