Residents and businesses in the City of Tshwane will in the near future be allowed to generate electricity by means of renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic as part of the metro’s plan to reduce its dependence on the national grid under Eskom.
This is all thanks to the council’s approval of small-scale embedded generation and the wheeling policies aimed at providing better energy security and facilitating the ever-changing energy landscape in the city.
In a recently passed council report, the City said it was prudent to craft the two policies in an effort to move to a more stable energy environment.
“The changing landscape and challenges faced by Eskom and the stability of the grid and availability of energy has been a national problem as is evident from load shedding,” the report said.
The policies were in line with other municipalities in the country and their ultimate goal is to provide better energy security.
ANC councillor Eunice Moloi said a policy like the small-scale embedded generation allows residents and businesses to generate their own electricity through renewable sources like solar.
“This will reduce their dependence on the national grid,”she said.
By generating local power, Moloi said, the city can mitigate the effects of national power shortage and load shedding.
“The policy encourages the use of renewable energy which helps reduce the city’s carbon footprint and contributes to the city and global climate goals. Policies like these can make Tshwane more attractive to business and investors,”she said.
She praised the metro for positioning itself as a forward-thinking smart city that leverages modern technology for efficient, urban management.
“The policy can make renewable energy more accessible to a broader segment of the population, including lower income households and democratising energy access,”she said.
Utility Services MMC, Themba Fosi, said: “We are facing both challenges and opportunities in managing electricity generation and consumption. With our growth and growing population and expanding infrastructure electricity demand has extremely surged, placing strain on our power supply system and obviously to a certain extent on the national grid.”
He said the city’s electricity consumption was driven by industrial activity and residential units.
“To address these demands the energy task team which is led by the executive mayor is implementing this small scale embedded generation initiative. This includes investing in renewable energy sources, primarily solar power,”he said.
He said the aim behind the policies was to reduce dependence on conventional power sources like Eskom and lessen the environmental impact of electricity generation.
The implementation of both policies is subject to a public consultation process to be undertaken by the municipality.
Pretoria News