Joburg aims to partner with IPPs on R26bn electricity investment strategy

THE City of Johannesburg says it plans to partner with independent power producers (IPPs) on a R26-billion electricity investment strategy, which is designed to end load-shedding and place City Power on a more financially and environmentally sustainable footing.

The strategy involves a diversification of electricity sources away from Eskom, which currently provides the city with 90% of its power, while also securing City Power’s revenue, which was currently threatened by grid defection, theft and the prospect of a “utility death spiral”.

Executive Mayor Mpho Phalatse told participants at a two-day energy indaba that the city recognised that it did not have the funding to keep up with the required electricity investment, noting that its entire yearly infrastructure budget was R7.7-billion for power, water, roads and other municipals services.

Private-public partnerships were “the most feasible way forward” and the city was, thus, planning to approach the market in the not-too-distant future in a