The first electrons of renewable energy have officially been wheeled via the City of Cape Town’s energy grid, as part of the city’s plans to end power outages, which plagues South Africa.
Growthpoint Properties (JSE: GRT) became the first party to wheel renewable electricity in the city in collaboration with licenced electricity trader Etana Energy (Pty) Limited (Etana), a joint venture in which the South African owned Neura Group and H1 Holdings hold 49% and 26% respectively and UK based Chariot holds a 25% interest.
Wheeling is a process where electricity is bought and sold between private parties, using the existing grid to transport power from where it is generated to end-users that can be long distances apart.
“It creates greater access to affordable renewable energy and contributes to resolving the country’s energy crisis”, UK based Chariot says in a statement.
“As part of the City’s wheeling pilot project, in which Etana was selected as a participating trader, solar energy generated at Growthpoint’s The Constantia Village shopping centre in Constantia is being exported into Cape Town’s electricity grid for use at Growthpoint’s 36 Hans Strijdom office building in the Foreshore”.
Solar power from The Constantia Village was successfully injected into the City’s energy grid for the first time in September 2023.
Etana Energy says it is pleased that the city selected it as a trading partner, and we look forward to providing further energy support to the region for the foreseeable future.
“This electricity licence not only enables us to instigate this trading, but it also has the potential to help to unlock the development of further large renewable projects in South Africa. We are looking to supply greener power across the national grid for commercial and industrial requirements so this early-stage trading is a key step within our longer term plans for this business.”
