‘Independent producers needed to stabilise energy supply’

It’s urgent, says Joburg mayor

City Power will need at least R26bn to stabilise energy supply in Johannesburg.

With a capital budget of R7.7bn for the 2022/2023 financial year, Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse said this was an impossible task that highlighted the need for public and private partnerships to solve the energy crisis.

Phalatse was speaking at the inaugural City of Joburg Energy Indaba in Sandton yesterday. The indaba ends today.

Phalatse said: “For us to succeed in the next five years we have to stabilise energy supply in the city of Joburg. Much of our revenue is generated through energy distribution. Our ratepayers are becoming frustrated with the city. You can’t have an economic hub that doesn’t have adequate and uninterrupted power supply.

“City Power presented their plan to stabilise energy supply in the city and it costs R26bn. To give you perspective, our total capital budget is R7.7bn. There is no way the city alone will be able to turn around the energy supply situation in Johannesburg.”

She said the city’s energy stance was premised on the Sustainable Energy Strategy, which would introduce an energy mix that included independent power producers (IPPs) and small-scale power generators.

“Clean energy provided by independent power producers will not only improve the city’s energy security but also respond positively to the climate change imperative,” she said.

“The city recognises that we don’t have the funding to keep up with the required investment in power infrastructure, hence private-public partnerships are seen as the most feasible way forward.”

Joburg gets 90% of its energy supply from Eskom and 10% from Kelvin Power – an IPP.

Environment and infrastructure services MMC Michael Sun said the main goal was to keep the lights on, keep the taps running and keep the streets clean. He said Joburg had one of the most difficult energy crisis compared to other metros.

“When Eskom says you’re going to have stage 2 load shedding, it’s stage 4 in the City of Joburg.

“As we speak, there are businesses and households without electricity. Our job is to ensure we move away from the dependency on Eskom.”

He said the city was also plagued by infrastructural vandalism and cable theft, with 188 incidents reported in March and 168 last month.

“City Power spends R150m on the protection of our infrastructure,” Sun said.

Meanwhile, Eskom has announced stage 2 load-shedding will continue throughout the week. It cited continued shortage of generation capacity as the reason for the implementation of stage 2 load-shedding between 5pm and 10pm.