As one of six Western Cape municipalities to take part in the provincial government’s Municipal Energy Resilience Programme, Overstrand Municipality is working hard to make green energy work for all within its boundaries.
It stated that various technical and regulatory aspects needed to be considered before “going green”. These include, but are not limited to, network capability, regulatory limitations, procurement procedures, base generation demand and capacity, possible peak shaving, load shedding and energy efficiency.
Overstrand Municipal Manager Dean O’Neill said three studies – Cost of Supply study, Grid Capacity Connection study and Updating of the Electricity Master Plan – were completed in 2022 to ensure the municipality can provide a reliable and sustainable service to its customers.
“The outcomes of these studies will assist the municipality in identifying where its networks are able to accommodate renewable energy connections,” he explained, “what capacity can be accommodated and how to align renewable resources to its policies and statutory requirements.
“It will also assist in determining what percentage of renewable energy can be purchased from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to ensure that Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) customers will have unfettered access to the municipal network without penalties. Aside from the existing SSEG programme, procuring alternative energy will, most probably, be directly from registered IPPs. The municipality has had several meetings with interested IPP companies.” Renewable Energy Plant
With the goal of procuring renewable energy from Independent Power Producers by 2026, a request for proposals for establishing a renewable energy plant on municipal land in Kleinmond will be advertised soon. The possibility of generating hydro power is also being investigated.
Wheeling
“Wheeling electricity” on the municipal grid is where private generators at one location can supply electricity to a buyer or off-taker in another location via the municipal network. This could be introduced by 2024. Generators will need to comply with Eskom and municipal regulations and policies.
Retrofitting
O’Neill stated that Overstrand Municipality is in the process of identifying municipal buildings (roof tops) that might be suitable for retrofitting. This will be included in the mini-Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that will be done by the end of February 2024. The IRP will assist with finding funding. Two retrofit traffic lights in Hermanus (one at the Sandbaai intersection and the other at CTM) have been installed.
Solar Panels
“There are already ± 45 businesses and Overstrand residents that are registered to feed excess electricity into the municipal grid – generating roughly 1 MW of electricity through solar panels. Registration of all small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) installations is mandatory, even if you are not feeding into the grid.”
The complete guidelines, forms and by-laws are available on the Overstrand website.
