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April 2015
A
ccording to the City of Cape
Town Executive Deputy Mayor,
Ian Neilson, metros are the
growth engines of the country and
the full effect on business operations,
investment and job creation in South
Africa is yet to be felt.
Economist, Mike Schussler has
given a conservative estimate that it
is costing business about R6 billion
per month for Stage 1 load shedding;
R12 billion per month for Stage 2 load
shedding; and R24 billion per month
for Stage 3 load shedding.
“Given that Cape Town’s output
is approximately 11% of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), and we
are mostly affected by Stage 1 and
2 load shedding, Cape Town is prob-
ably losing more than R1 billion per
month. These estimates comprise
the damage caused as a result of no
supply and they exclude the long-
term cost of job losses, stunted
economic growth, and the drop in
investor confidence. We have already
signaled that we intend taking back
our power. With our partners in the
Western Cape Government, Eskom
and in the private sector, we must
change the energy regime in Cape
Town.”
At the Energy Efficiency Forumand
in partnershipwith Eskom, the South
African Property Owners Association,
Old Mutual and other stakeholders,
the city is looking at a range of op-
tions to minimise the impact of load
shedding on our business sector. “We
are also looking at ways in which we
can use our pumped-storage scheme
at Steenbras Dam to lessen the im-
pact of load shedding. Cape Town is
also one of the first cities to promote
embedded generation and we are
investigating ways in which this pro-
gramme can be ramped up to bring
more electrons on to the grid through
renewable energy,” says Neilson.
He added, “The feasibility of imple-
menting our own demand-response
system, whereby businesses can be
contracted to reduce demand imme-
diately as opposed to having to im-
plement load shedding, is currently
being investigated. We are also step-
ping up our efforts to diversify our
energymix by, for instance, exploring
options in terms of procuring power
from independent power producers,
particularly renewable energy and
gas-fired turbines. This will, however,
require the cooperation of National
Government and we feel confident
that we can find solutions that will
also enable us to build more of a gas
economy in Cape Town through fuel
switching.” This would directly sup-
port the growth of larger-scale renew-
able energy resources in Cape Town
and theWestern Cape. He concluded
that metros must become the energy
champions of their residents and of
their commercial sector players.
■
Energy crisis needs collective action
Large metros have to be key drivers in the quest to find urgent
solutions to the energy crisis. The City of Cape Town, as the fastest
growing metro in the country, urges other metros to join them and to
actively participate in constructive action to mitigate the impact of
the electricity supply shortage on the commercial sector.
Energy Efficiency, Green Building & IBTs