Durban - The eThekwini Municipality has an ambitious plan to be “energy-independent” within the next 12 years.
EThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda told delegates attending the city’s Energy Transformation Summit yesterday that the city wanted to have its “own” sufficient supplies to supply its residents by 2035.
The two-day summit started yesterday at the Albert Luthuli ICC and is being attended by energy experts from across Africa, politicians, investors and energy producers, as well as Durban residents.
The City is hosting the summit as it starts the process to source power from independent power producers in an effort to mitigate load shedding.
It is looking to secure 100MW of solar power and 300MW from gas.
Kaunda said: “As a city, we have set ourselves a target of reducing reliance on the national grid by 20% in 2025. Furthermore, we plan to reduce reliance by 40% in 2030 and ultimately achieve energy independence by 2035.”
He said there were about 30 possible energy projects the City hoped to pursue and it would issue an expression of interest in July for those energy suppliers looking to partner with them.
“We have no doubt that we are on the right path to achieve this goal as we have already created the Municipal Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme with over 30 priority energy infrastructure projects over short, medium and long term.
“We are happy to announce that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial executive council has given concurrence to our procurement plan for 400MW in line with eThekwini energy transition policy,” Kaunda said.
“The National Treasury has also given permission to eThekwini Municipality to begin preparing the procurement frameworks for the release of 400MW Request for Proposals.”
He said the Request for Proposals for 400MW would be released into the market in the new financial year.
He added that in the medium to long term, the City wanted to procure an additional 2 600MW of new generation capacity, including 50MW waste to energy, 300MW offshore wind and 940MW of nuclear power.
Kaunda said the City generated more than 1.4 million tons of waste, which puts the municipality in a good position to increase capacity to draw energy from this source and most importantly, to encourage communities to participate meaningfully in this economic sector.
“Ultimately, our transformational energy mix will attract more than
R324 billion in private investment by 2035,” he said.
KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube said it was important that the transition did not leave people behind, not only regarding jobs, but also in terms of opportunities for entrepreneurs – especially black industrialists.
She said eThekwini had taken a lead in its own energy generation plans.
“At the executive council level, we have approved policies to enable eThekwini to steam ahead in implementing reliable energy security options, including sourcing from independent power producers.”
She said the transformation must go beyond the change from carbon to more environmentally-friendly sources, and must also bring meaningful transformation to the majority.
“This crisis can be turned into a massive opportunity for all and help lead the transformation of our society, especially in KZN, where we are battling to address unemployment, poverty and inequality,” she said.