The City of Cape Town has initiated a new program allowing households to earn money by selling excess solar power generated by their photovoltaic (PV) systems.
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Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis made the announcement during the launch of the city’s 2050 Energy Strategy on February 12, 2024. The Cash for Power program’s inaugural round of applications is open until March 8, 2024.
Outlined within the Energy Strategy is a comprehensive roadmap leading up to 2050, with short-term initiatives aimed at shielding the metro from the first four stages of Eskom load shedding by 2026.
Mayor Hill-Lewis highlighted Cape Town’s groundbreaking achievement, declaring it as the first city to officially adopt an Energy Strategy. He emphasized the strategy’s pivotal role in eliminating load shedding, citing it as crucial for fostering job-generating economic growth.
“In the short term,” Hill-Lewis stated, “we are striving for protection against four stages of load shedding by 2026. This involves transitioning from unreliable, expensive, and fossil fuel-dependent Eskom energy to a decentralized, reliable, cost-effective, and carbon-neutral energy supply sourced from various providers.”
Under the Cash for Power initiative, the city aims to purchase surplus solar power from households and businesses.
Mayor Hill-Lewis criticized President Cyril Ramaphosa’s assertion in the 2024 State of the Nation Address that the worst of load shedding was over. He pointed out the worsening state of load shedding and stressed the urgency for proactive measures independent of those who contributed to the crisis.
While the city has previously allowed users to receive credits for feeding electricity back into the grid, the introduction of the Cash for Power program represents a significant advancement, placing Cape Town ahead of other metropolitan areas in the country.
Applications for Cash for Power are open to residential customers with an approved grid-tied Small-Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) system and a bi-directional AMI meter. Applicants must also be registered service providers on both the City Supplier Database and the National Treasury Web-Based Central Supplier Database.
Successful applicants will enter into a three-year contract with the city according to its supply chain regulations.
For the first round of applications, interested parties must submit their applications via email by March 8, 2024, with subsequent rounds to follow thereafter.
