South African City Tenders 7 MW Solar Power Plant

• Cape Town is looking for bidders for a 7 MW solar power plant to be set up in the South African city
• It will be the city's 1^st grid connected solar plant that can generate 14.7 GWh of clean energy once it is online in 2024
• The Atlantis Solar PV Plant may be followed by other clean energy projects to help the city reduce its reliance on Eskom

The City of Cape Town in South Africa has launched a solicitation drive for EPC service contractors for a 7 MW solar plant which it says will be the city's 1^st grid connected solar project that's aimed as a measure to end load-shedding over time.

"'The City currently purchases most of its electricity from Eskom. High Eskom price escalations expected in future may not be financially sustainable for the City and its residents. It is expected that the Atlantis solar plant will enhance the City's financial sustainability as the cost of generating the electricity would be lower than the bulk procurement from Eskom," stated Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

The city administration wants the solar plant to start generating clean electricity in 2024 and remain in operation for 20 years. Its annual output is expected to be 14.7 GWh, supplied to the electricity network of the city.

Winner will be expected to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the 7 MW Atlantis Solar PV Plant.

"'One of the goals of this program is to achieve the City's net-zero carbon municipal buildings commitment by 2030, and this power plant would be expected to contribute towards this. There would be a significant reduction in the City's carbon footprint if it switched from Eskom to solar-generated electricity," added the Mayor.

In the future, it may add more climate friendly power sources than depend on coal-fired power stations of Eskom.

Last date to submit tender documents is October 25, 2022. Further details are available on the administration's website.

Eskom is the sole electricity utility in South Africa that is dealing with financial challenges and ageing power infrastructure. The ensuing power outages are crippling the economy. The government is bringing in encouraging policies to accelerate the deployment of renewables to deal with the situation (see South Africa Leans On RE To Improve Power Supply).

In February 2022, the City of Cape Town launched a tender to procure up to 300 MW renewable energy, particularly solar from independent power producers (IPP) to secure access to affordable and reliable electricity supply (see Cape Town's 300 MW Renewables Call).