South Africa Cape Town

Decarbonising the city’s grid through solar farming and efficiency measures

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Screenshot 2023-03-21 at 14.26.16

Cape Town

Geordin Hill-Lewis Executive Mayor

The City of Cape Town, working with the C40 Cities Finance Facility, will install a city-owned, large-scale solar power plant - the first of its kind in South Africa. Additionally, the city will develop a business case to achieve net-zero carbon municipal buildings in Cape Town by 2030. 

The City of Cape Town, working with the C40 Cities Finance Facility, will install a city-owned, large-scale solar power plant - the first of its kind in South Africa. Additionally, the city will develop a business case to achieve net-zero carbon municipal buildings in Cape Town by 2030. 

Babalwa Mbobo
  • Senior Project Advisor Babalwa Mbobo
  • Location Cape Town - South Africa
  • Population 5.8 million (2023)
  • Solar Panels Up to 100MW

This project will increase Cape Town’s energy independence and will significantly contribute to its green economy. In 2022, South Africans endured over 100 days of rolling blackouts, with power often down for hours at a time. By developing solar energy, this project will help Cape Town become less dependent on the national grid, allowing power to continue even during periods of load shedding. By providing this more resilient and reliable power, solar energy generation can meet electricity needs cheaply for everyone, including low-income groups. 

This project will also positively impact air quality in Cape Town. Currently, 95% of Cape Town’s energy supply comes from coal. But relying on coal releases greenhouse gases that are heating the planet. Coal also releases air pollutants such as black carbon (soot) which is a major component of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) and is especially damaging to our lungs and health because of its very small size. 

Through the achievement of this commitment, the City of Cape Town will be at the forefront of the global trends and the market for more climate-resilient urban development. Furthermore, achieving these commitments will be a positive contributor from the City to the world who is coming together to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C, as required by the Paris Agreement. The Helderberg area is mostly residential with small pockets of industrial and commercial activity. The area is relatively far from the main commercial and industrial areas in the Cape Metro. The Paardevlei site can therefore, play an important role in connecting the Helderberg area to the broader Metro by creating economic opportunities for low- and middle-income families.
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Shane Prins Manager: Generation Development at City of Cape Town

This project will also create jobs for Cape Town residents at a variety of skill levels. Job creation will occur in the fields of manufacturing, maintenance, assembly, and connection of photovoltaics. Training and qualification opportunities will also come with this, such as job placement programmes, internships, bursaries, and re-training.  

This is one of the first projects to take advantage of new regulations in South Africa which allow solar plants to be built up to 100 MW. Across South Africa, municipalities will look to this project to understand how investing in renewable energy can transform the lives of urban residents.