Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has proposed its continued investment in its Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme for an estimated investment of approximately R1.2 billion over the next nine years for maintenance and the expansion of the plant.
The City said the Building Hope Budget for 2023/24 is to continue its protection of customers against some of the impacts of load shedding and to safeguard Cape Town’s electrical infrastructure.
According to the mayoral committee member for energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen, all due processes will be followed in terms of regulatory and legislative requirements.
She said the budget and execution of the professional services would determine the final budget and delivery programme.
“Approximately R1 billion has been set aside for the refurbishment and extension of the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme, and approximately R200 million is earmarked for the maintenance of Steenbras.
“The investment in Steenbras and the maintenance programme is crucial to fulfilling our commitment to protect customers from a stage or two of load shedding where possible, with plans to expand protection with up to four stages in the near future as part of the load-shedding protection plan.
“Importantly, all Capetonians benefit directly or indirectly from the City’s power generation management and load shedding protection as it also protects critical City infrastructure used for service provision and protects the City’s electricity network,” van Reenen said.
She said the budget allocations enabled the City to begin the process of delivering on the Mayor’s Energy Priority Programme to end load shedding.
It includes:
· R220 million on embedded independent power purchase;
· R288 million on the power heroes programme, which looks at voluntary power reduction in return for an incentive;
· An estimated R1 billion investment in Steenbras (over the next nine years);
· R640 million on solar PV; R53 million cash for power programme, which involves selling excess power back to the City;
· R50 million in battery storage;
· R32 million on waste-to-energy.
Van Reenen said the 160 MW Steenbras Hydro Pump Station (SHPS) has four turbines that are used to generate electricity. During peak electricity demand, it channels water from the Upper Steenbras to the Lower Steenbras through the turbine generator to create electricity.
During low usage of electricity, usually between 11pm and 7am, the turbines pump water back to the Upper Steenbras Dam to be re-used the following day.
The SHPS operates like a battery, and the amount of electricity that it can generate in a day is limited by the capacity of the lower reservoir.
According to the City of Cape Town, Cape Town is the only city in the country to own and operate a large pumped hydroelectric scheme.
Currently, Eskom has load shedding Stages 5 and 6 implemented.