South Africa: Renewable energy wheeled for first time through Cape Town’s grid

Chariot Limited, an Africa-focused transitional energy group, on September 18 announced that the first solar power has been officially wheeled via the City of Cape Town’s energy grid in a pilot electricity wheeling project.

JSE-listed Growthpoint Properties became the first party to wheel renewable electricity in collaboration with a licenced electricity trader Etana Energy, a joint venture in which Chariot holds a 25% interest, along with the Neura Group, (49%) and H1 Holdings (26%).

Wheeling is a process where electricity is bought and sold between private parties, using the existing grid to transport power from where it is generated to end-users that can be long distances apart, Chariot said in a press release. Etana was selected as a participating trader for the project.

Wheeling creates greater access to affordable renewable energy and contributes to resolving the country’s energy crisis. Solar energy generated at Growthpoint’s The Constantia Village shopping centre is being fed into Cape town’s grid for use at Growthpoint’s office building in the Foreshore.

According to Chariot, Etana aims to deliver a unique renewable energy mix at competitive prices to help address the significant power requirements across South Africa with the licence opening up access to a range of high-volume off-takers, including municipal, industrial and retail customers.

“Through our joint venture, Etana Energy, we are very proud to have been involved in the first wheeling of renewable energy in Cape Town. We are very pleased that the city selected us as a trading partner, and we look forward to providing further energy support to the region for the foreseeable future,” said Benoit Garrivier, CEO of Chariot Transitional Power.

Chariot Transitional Power, one of three business streams within the energy group, is focused on transforming the energy market in Southern Africa, providing it with cleaner, sustainable and more reliable power.

“This electricity licence not only enables us to instigate this trading, but it also has the potential to help to unlock the development of further large renewable projects in South Africa,” Garrivier added. “We are looking to supply greener power across the national grid for commercial and industrial requirements, so this early-stage trading is a key step within our longer-term plans for this business.”