39 producers raise hand to operate city power stations

In its quest for energy independence away from troubled Eskom, the metro is targeting to obtain an impressive 1 000MW of power from other source over the next three years.

Tshwane said 39 independent power producers (IPPs) responded to its invitation to show interest in supplying it with power in December last year.

Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said the invitation attracted reputable experienced organisations in the renewable energy space, reflecting a promising trend in the city’s transition to sustainable energy.
“We have taken the first steps to achieve 1 000 MW of energy independence from Eskom by 2026,” said Brink.

Brink said the plan to power up city-owned stations received overwhelming support from the public.

He said the invitation for interest issued in December 2023 aimed at soliciting information from industry experts on transitioning to cleaner technologies and resources, as well as procuring additional energy.

He said 39 credible IPPs put in bids which are yet to be evaluated.

“This is major progress for the city towards energy independence and we are now well set on this path.”

The invitation was an important information-sharing process and one of the key steps to a detailed and evidenced-based request for proposal (RFP) to diversify and secure the energy supply mix at the Pretoria West and Rooiwal power stations.

The metro said on January 25 it approved the recommissioning of the Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations and 40-year lease for about 1 000 MW of alternative energy.

For 30 days from September 18, 2023, the metro asked residents to comment on the R200-million Rooiwal and R160-million Pretoria West projects.

Metro spokesperson Sipho Stuurman said that electricity independence means removing the burden from the power utility.

“The city will have a baseload electricity that is generated from the two power stations, and this will be fed into the city’s grid to alleviate load-shedding.”

Stuurman said the power that will be generated from these power stations will account for a portion of demand.

Stuurman said due to the city’s liquidity issues, it had to go out to the market to lease the stations to private operators.

“This is the reason why the city is planning to go out to the market, calling on IPPs to lease the two power stations to produce electricity, since the metro is currently stretched financially.”

He said ideally the city would prefer to have new and cleaner technologies to produce electricity at the two power stations to ensure carbon reduction efforts and enter into agreements that are financially favourable to the city.

“Pretoria West power station has the potential to be repurposed to enable a more renewable form of energy production that will support the revitalisation of the Pretoria West industrial hub.”

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