City of Cape Town wants to secure energy needs using new clean energy supplies
The city’s Energy MMC said the metro was aiming to be carbon-neutral and climate-resilient by 2050 and be the first major city to protect its residents from load shedding by 2026.
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CAPE TOWN - The City of Cape Town says it has embarked on an ambitious journey to secure the city's energy needs by using new clean energy supplies to alleviate energy poverty.
Addressing delegates at the Africa Energy Indaba on Tuesday, the city's Energy MMC, Beverley van Reenen, said the metro's target was to become carbon-neutral and climate-resilient by 2050.
Van Reenen said Cape Town’s objective is to be the first major city in the country to protect its residents from Eskom's rolling power cuts by 2026.
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She said the municipality seeks to achieve this by adding new clean megawatts onto the grid and reducing reliance on Eskom.
"Overall, Cape Town's power supply diversification strategy aims to add up to 1 gigawatt of independent power supply to end load shedding in the city over time.”
Van Reenen added that Cape Town is the first city in the country to buy excess solar photovoltaic (PV) power from businesses and households.