Continued investment in the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme will lay the foundation for a potential estimated investment of approximately R1,2 billion over the next nine years on the maintenance and expansion of this plant, as proposed by the City’s “Building Hope Budget” for 2023-’24.
This is to continue its protection of customers against some of the impacts of load shedding and to safeguard Cape Town’s electrical infrastructure.
The City stated that all due process will be followed in terms of regulatory and legislative requirements, and budget and execution of the professional services will determine the final budget and delivery programme.
“Approximately R1 billion has been set aside for the refurbishment and extension of the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme,” Mayco Member for Energy Beverley van Reenen pointed out, “and approximately R200 million is earmarked for the maintenance of Steenbras.
“The investment in Steenbras and the maintenance programme is crucial to fulfilling our commitment to protecting customers from a stage or two of load-shedding where possible, with plans to expand protection with up to four stages in the near future as part of the load-shedding protection plan. Importantly, all Capetonians benefit directly or indirectly from the City’s power generation management and load-shedding protection as it also protects critical City infrastructure used for service provision and protects the City’s electricity network.”
The budget allocations enable the City to begin the process of delivering on the Mayor’s Energy Priority Programme to end load shedding. It includes R220 million on embedded independent power purchase, R288 million on the Power Heroes programme, which looks at voluntary power reduction in return for an incentive, an estimated R1 billion investment in Steenbras (over the next nine years) subject to all due diligence and legal and regulatory processes, R640 million on solar PV, R53 million Cash for Power programme, which involves selling excess power back to the City, R50 million in Battery Storage and R32 million on waste-to-energy.
