Joburg announced new energy plan to divorce city from load shedding
Johannesburg residents could have the luxury of being excluded from stage 1 and 2 load shedding – should talks between the city and Eskom be successful.
This was confirmed by the city’s Mayor Mpho Moerane on Tuesday.
He was speaking at the John Ware substation in Fordsburg where he was launching the city’s new energy plan.
The energy mix plan will introduce the production of electricity using gas and solar.
Moerane said the city plans to add an additional 500 megawatts to its grid by reducing its reliance on Eskom.
Just last week we had an MOU between the city and Eskom to kickstart the exploration of the best way to take over supply areas of Eskom in the city of Johannesburg. Last week we also concluded a two-year power purchase agreement on the privately-owned Kelvin Power station, which has confirmed 220 megawatts capacity for the city.
"The city met with Eskom yesterday to continue discussions on ways to mitigate load shedding and the sought exemption of Johannesburg from stage 1 and 2 load shedding from the secured additional capacity from the Kelvin power station," said Moerane.
Requests for information for independent power producers to begin the process of bidding for gas and solar will begin on Friday, the city confirmed.
Moerane also assured residents the tendering process will be above board and corruption-free.
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