South Africa: Premier Alan Winde welcomes progress in City of Cape Town’s (CoCT) electricity wheeling project

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Premier Alan Winde welcomed the solid and much-needed progress made by the City of Cape Town (CoCT) has made with its electricity wheeling project. Fifteen commercial electricity entities will soon start wheeling power through the City’s grid. He lauded the CoCT and its council for prioritising this project, which is just one component of its energy security plan. The Premier said, “It will complement all efforts by the Western Cape Government (WCG) and municipalities across the province to reduce power blackouts and our province’s dependence on Eskom.”

“By opening up our energy plans to the private sector, we are empowering businesses, allowing them to become part-and-parcel of the solution to the energy crisis. We are practically and proactively demonstrating that our whole-of-society approach works, especially in a crisis, when it is most needed,” said Premier Winde. Wheeling is the delivery of power from a generator to an end-user in another area through the use of existing distribution and transmission networks. Electricity wheeling is an integral part of The WCG’s Energy Resilience Plan’s new energy development programme.

The provincial government and local governments’ strategies to address the power crisis must dovetail, to work in a coordinated manner. The Premier added, “We must attack this crisis from all angles, leveraging all the resources and expertise we have at our disposal. We will work with the CoCT and other municipalities to develop wheeling projects - and enhance other technologies. Technology, data and evidence are key to resolving this disaster. I commend Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and his team for leading the pack with its wheeling project.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Western Cape Government: Office of the Premier.