Western Cape Accelerates Third-party Electricity Wheeling with Infrastructure Toolkits

Western Cape municipalities are set to accelerate the implementation of third-party electricity wheeling with the help of newly received toolkits. This initiative is expected to encourage the private sector to transport power over the grid to other businesses, organizations, or facilities, thereby increasing the connection rate of private electricity generators to private consumers in the province.

The Provincial Minister of Infrastructure, Tertius Simmers, in an interview with BizNews, highlighted the manifold benefits of this approach. These include mitigating the impact of load shedding, reducing the bulk, consumer, and municipal reliance on the beleaguered power utility ESKOM, and providing better electricity price certainty to commercial electricity consumers. It also serves to incentivize investment, driving economic development and job creation in the Western Cape.

In the medium to long term, "the cost benefits to consumers indeed have a significant impact," states Simmers. Furthermore, this initiative will not only provide economical options for consumers but also ensure energy security in the province's future.

The Western Cape Government recently awarded contracts to HLT Advisors and Cresco Advisory for tasks relating to the province's energy infrastructure and independence. The implementation of the electricity wheeling toolkitsis a significant move following the establishment of the Western Cape Energy Council by Premier Alan Winde in 2022.