The City of Cape Town says its wheeling project is working – but while the city is making what older people used to call ‘a big hoo-ha’ about their wheeling project, it is not clear how soon residential users will reap any benefits.
“The price of the energy is set between the parties and not by the city, Eskom or the National Energy Regulator of South Africa ”, as stated by the Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen, earlier this year. The Growthpoint website states that the company “own and manage properties in the retail, office and industrial sectors… Growthpoint owns a 50% stake in the V&A Waterfront and a majority stake in the country’s first healthcare property fund.”
“Wheeling is geared towards large commercial and industrial customers that take their supply at 11,000 volts and above. The customers are connected within the city’s distribution network and are located throughout the city.” “Electricity wheeling, that allows people to buy electricity from each other, is one way to help address the country’s electricity shortages.
“Green energy trading or wheeling is limited to when there is renewable energy – when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing … so the problem with wheeling is that it does not protect you from load shedding,” which Van Reenen confirms. But Lester also indicates that at the point that the residential user is benefiting from non-Eskom electricity, it will in all likelihood have nothing to do with city – whether that is “in time”, “over time” or next Wednesday :