Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced that 15 commercial electricity suppliers will start wheeling electricity through Cape Town’s grid following city council approval later this month.
- Electricity wheeling is an innovative solution to help address the country’s energy shortages, and Cape Town is leading the way nationally with a unique wheeling pilot project.
- Wheeling allows people to buy electricity from each other using existing grid infrastructure, and the program will allow electricity to be wheeled over both the municipal and Eskom distribution networks in Cape Town.
- The 15 wheeling pilot participants include well-known companies such as Amazon Data Service, Redefine Properties, and Solar Africa Energy, among others.
- The city has already put in place the enabling legislative framework for wheeling, and the sales will be governed by bilateral power purchase agreements within a market environment.
- The move towards wheeling is set to revolutionize the electricity market in Cape Town, with the potential for greater competition and innovation, and could pave the way for similar projects in other parts of the country.