ELECTRICITY INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN LANGEBERG MUNICIPALITY
Langeberg Municipality hosted a US delegation organised by Power Africa in Montagu on 24 May 2024.
Following the attendance at the Enlit Africa exhibition in Cape Town earlier the week, a group of fifteen representatives from American energy development organisations met with Langeberg Municipality to learn about opportunities for investment in electricity supply to the area.
As Langeberg Municipality endeavour to become a load-shedding-free destination for the sake of our economy and future growth, we aim to invite bids in a Request for Proposal (RFP) process and to investigate Public Private Partnerships. This approach will attract competitive bids to supply much needed electricity to the Langeberg Municipality.
The meeting with the delegation was a wonderful platform to harness the collective capabilities of several international role players in this sector, identifying realistic investment opportunities.
Langeberg Municipality have been in discussions with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), the Southern African Energy Projects (SAEP) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to investigate the feasibility of solar power and energy storage as a means of moving forward with independent and carbon-free power generation. Eskom is also making strides regarding just energy transition, and we want to be a part of the green solution.
Langeberg Municipality have six Eskom feed-in points with a combined notified maximum demand 75 MW. The Eskom corridor into the Langeberg region is congested and in need of upgrading. To support the expansion of new developments and the area's growth, we need to boost capacity to reach just over 100MW. The bulk of our electricity is supplied by Eskom, and the cost estimates for a slight increase in electrical capacity, the last little bit of capacity available before the major upgrade is required, is very high and borderline unrealistic.
There is however a pressing need for us to increase our capacity. Due to migration trends, there are many people wishing to relocate and establish their businesses in the Langeberg area, together with established businesses that are eager to expand their operations and new real estate developments in the pipeline.
South Africa will likely follow suite with international energy markets for a multi-market energy procurement model. This model allows utilities to procure energy from several providers through an open market that will deliver electricity at competitive rates.
Investors will find this to be an enticing prospect given our municipality’s financial standing and 99% account payment collection rate.
There is still a lot of work that must be done, from updating our initial energy strategy, to navigating government and regulatory processes that puts this project on a timeline of at least another two to three years before it might materialise for our community.
US delegation participants included: Power Africa/US Agency for International Development (USAID), US Department of Commerce, ExIm Bank, US Department of State, Ashipa Electric, Affordable Solar (Ashipa Electric), Taber International, Blue Horizon (USTDA Contractor), Steam Power at GE Vernova, Woolpert, Cross Boundary and Langeberg Municipality.