Cape Town – After the conclusion of a successful year-long electricity “wheeling’ pilot project, the City of Cape Town has opened its electricity grid to private electricity sales and trading.
Wheeling allows participants to buy electricity directly from Independent Power Producers or licenced energy traders using existing municipal grid infrastructure.
Over 562 800 kWhs of power has already been generated and wheeled across the City’s grid between private sector energy traders during the pilot phase.
“Today we officially signal the full opening of Cape Town’s wheeling regime after a successful year-long pilot,” said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewison Wednesday, (5 March 2025).
“In this next phase, the City will promote the scaling up of power trading across our electricity grid between qualifying private sellers, based on bilateral and multi-lateral trading agreements.
“This is an exciting leap forward to diversify our electricity supplier base beyond Eskom to a future of decentralised electricity trading in South Africa.
“More than half a million kilowatt hours have already been wheeled across Cape Town’s grid during the pilot phase between three energy companies generating power from a number of sources.”
Commenting on the matter, Alderman Xanthea Limberg, Mayoral Committee Member for Energy said: “Enpower Trading, Etana Trading, and Equites Fund Property have been our trailblazers in the pilot programme and will continue to be valuable partners.
“This is the start of a changing role for municipalities in the energy space.
“If we consider what has been generated just in the pilot, when we scale it up the numbers get absolutely huge so it is important that we get it right.
“Thank you to our City teams and private partners who have shown again that Cape Town is leading the efforts to change the energy regime.”
About the pilot-phase participants
Cape Town’s wheeling pilot phase included three wheeling participants (traders), three generators and three off-takers:
· Trader (trades the generated energy over the City’s grid)
· Generator (generator of the wheeled energy)
· Off-taker (receiver of the wheeled energy)
Trader: Enpower Trading
Generator: FairBridge Mall, Brackenfell
Off-taker: Shoprite Head Office, Brackenfell
Trader: Etana Energy
Generator: Constantia Shopping Mall
Off-taker: Growthpoint Properties, City Centre
Trader: Equites Property Fund Limited
Generator: Equites Property Fund Limited, Parow Industria
Off-taker: APF Portside, City Centre
Equites Property Fund
Equites Property Fund Head of Sustainability, Irshaad Wadvalla said: “Equites Property Fund’s successful participation in the City’s Energy Wheeling Pilot Project marks the culmination of nearly three years of continuous engagement with the City’s energy team – an experience that brought invaluable learnings and unwavering support from all involved.
“The transfer of electrons from our generation site in Parow Industria to the off-taker on the Foreshore enabled us to advance our sustainability objectives while contributing to the broader adoption of green energy through this innovative mechanism.
“We are excited about the prospect of expanding our wheeling capacity beyond the pilot to serve multiple off-takers and look forward to the moderation of wheeling tariffs to encourage greater participation in this transformative initiative.”
Etana Energy
“Etana Energy is delighted to have participated in the City’s wheeling pilot project with our valued customer Growthpoint,” said Etana Energy Chief Executive Officer, Evan Rice.
“The successful conclusion of the pilot and opening up the wheeling opportunity more broadly is an important milestone in unlocking private investment in much-needed new energy generation capacity in South Africa.
“It really is a win-win-win.”
Rice added: “Allowing customers to access cost- competitive renewable energy through the grid via wheeling enables South African businesses to remain competitive on the global stage, while also benefiting the country and the planet”.
Enpower Trading
“One year into active wheeling, Enpower Trading remains committed to supporting Cape Town’s transition to renewable energy,” said Enpower Trading Chief Executive Officer, James Beatty.
“By successfully delivering renewable power to Shoprite Checkers over the past year, we have shown that energy wheeling and trading is not just viable but essential to diversifying South Africa’s power supply.
“We commend the City of Cape Town in paving the way for energy security and economic growth and look forward to continued collaboration in expanding renewable energy access”
