The City of Cape Town is expected to start producing electricity from its own utility-scale 7–10 MW solar PV power plant by the end of 2025.

Energy Capital & Power reports that construction has started on the US$11.4 million plant in Atlantis. The contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant has been awarded to the Lesedi Technoserve Consortium, according to Engineering News.

On completion of construction at the end of next year, the plant will be connected to the nearby substation.

Executive mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says the plant, the first utility-scale renewable-energy project in Cape Town, will be owned and operated by the city.

‘The idea is to potentially have a number of similar plants rolled out across the metro in the years to come,’ he says.

The project is part of the municipality’s efforts to diversify its electricity supply. It has also launched a call for tenders for a battery energy storage system to be built on the same site as the solar PV facility.

15 October 2024
Image: Freepik