The City of Mbombela (CoM) has committed itself to supporting private stakeholders with solutions to the electricity crisis.

The CoM’s manager, Wiseman Khumalo, said the municipality has adopted a resolution to implement waste-to-energy sources to generate 85MW of electricity. This will be achieved by using biogas, hydroelectricity, solar energy and natural gas.

Khumalo spoke at the Alternative Energy Information Expo at Church Unlimited on February 21, a meeting organised by the adopting traffic lights (KLCBT) as part of plans to resolve the continuing power cuts.

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Khumalo also called on those in the private sector capable of setting up independent transmission, to come forward to supply sufficient energy in order for the municipality to go off the Eskom grid. “With the current situation the power utility is facing, we cannot depend on it anymore; renewable energy is the way to go. But the City alone cannot do it; we need the private sector with its resources to come onboard with sustainable solutions. If they are reliable and competitive, we are ready to support them,” he said.

Khumalo also said if nothing was done about the power outages, this would collapse the local economy, as more businesses would be forced to close, leading to further job losses and price increases. “We are open to listening to all ideas from the private sector to see how the municipality can ensure all residents have power at all times. But they must not take advantage of the situation by charging more than they are supposed to,” he said.

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While encouraging businesses to continue adopting traffic lights at busy intersections, Khumalo also condemned illegal electricity connections, especially for business purposes. “We are going to introduce heavy fines for illegal connections. Households will not be spared either, because power theft affects municipal revenue collections. We have introduced certain incentives to those who report illegal connections,” he concluded.

Various companies from the renewable energy industry were given an opportunity to present solutions for solving the energy crisis. Local banks have also opened their doors to those who need funding for green energy projects.