Joburg assesses bids for private energy supply

Johannesburg has secured bids from private producers to provide 92MW of electricity to help shield it from nationwide electricity shortages.

The city’s electricity utility, City Power, last year issued a request for short-term power purchase agreements. South Africa experiences electricity rationing on a regular basis as state-owned Eskom struggles to meet demand.

The selected bids from companies using waste-to-energy, gas-to-power and solar generation technology provide cheaper electricity than using Eskom, City Power CEO Tshifularo Mashava said on Thursday in a statement. Johannesburg plans to add 500MW of capacity by 2030. One megawatt is enough to supply around 650 households, Eskom says on its website.

Read: Joburg’s new plan to curb load shedding

Cape Town, the second largest city in the country, also called for supply last year from independent producers and has issued a tender to build its first grid-connected solar plant.