The Executive Mayor of Tshwane Cilliers Brink hosted a Mayoral Energy Sector Roundtable with energy industry stakeholders on Tuesday at Tshwane House council chamber.
The roundtable is a gathering of experts in the energy field from the public-private sector and the government aimed at enriching inputs from the public participation process on the proposed 40-year lease of the Rooiwal and Pretoria West Power Stations which have been dormant for almost a decade.
Different stakeholders and energy experts include energy advisory to minister of electricity Silas Msingeli Zimu, DDG COGTA Kululeko Masi, Chisilo Mwanza compliance and licensing NERSA, Warrick Pierce principal energy researcher CSIR and Independent economy energy analysis Tshepo Kgadima.
When addressing the guests at the Mayoral energy sector roundtable city of Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink said the City hosted a Mayoral Energy Sector Roundtable with expert energy industry stakeholders at Tshwane House to solicit inputs to achieve an energy-secure future for our city and to alleviate the burden of load shedding.
The roundtable is part of our public participation process to diversify energy sources by means of the 40-year lease of Rooiwal Power Station and Pretoria West Power Station, which have been dormant for almost a decade.
Partnerships with the private sector are essential because the City does not have the creditworthiness or the technical capacity to leverage the potential of our power stations to enhance Tshwane’s energy needs.
“We want to unlock the full electricity-generation potential of the City’s power stations.
The City of Tshwane does not have the technical or financial capacity to leverage on the potential of our power stations to enhance Tshwane’s energy needs, thus the need to engage and partner with the private sector to unlock a partnership on potential funding mechanisms and technical expertise,” Mayor Brink said.
He said we consult energy experts on leasing Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations.
The importance of being energy-secure has been a concern for the City of Tshwane for close to a decade. By bringing qualified external players to the mix, the City of Tshwane plans to secure 1 000 MW, independent of Eskom, in the next three years.
“The city is mindful that with the extra generation of power, which is expected to be partly coal-based, environmental factors come into play.
This intervention is fully aligned with our commitment to our Climate Action Plan and the C40 Mayors Call to Action to implement transformative climate action, promote green economies and job creation and foster sustainable development,” he said.
Mayor Brink said the city will embark on a bold #Arejwaleng tree-planting campaign that will offset carbon emissions, mitigate against heat stress and air pollution as well as create green jobs. Arejwaleng is a Sesotho phrase for “let us plant”.
Inputs received from the panellists will be capitalised on and used to help us to stabilize our grid and to provide our customers with reliable power.
“The mayor is in the right path, and it is a good move and viable for the city and we support the move,” said principal energy researcher CSIR Warrick Pierce.
” We must bear in mind that South African we got the lowest per capital energy access than countries that are developing.
The city should focus on reliable dispatchable power meaning power that is available on demand,” said independent economy energy analysis Tshepo Kgadima.