Hessequa Municipality’s energy project to end load shedding in Riversdale

Premier Alan Winde has welcomed the pilot energy project Hessequa Municipality is implementing to reduce power cuts and ultimately make the town of Riversdale load shedding-free.

This was announced today, 30 November 2023, at a media briefing hosted by Premier Winde and Executive Mayor of Hessequa Municipality, Grant Riddles, Deputy Mayor, Tinus van den Berg, Speaker, Andrew Stroebel, and Municipal Manager, Albert de Klerk.

As with many Western Cape towns, Riversdale is also seeing rapid population growth which in turn leads to increased demand for electricity. To address ongoing rolling power cuts the Hessequa Municipality, with the support of the Western Cape Government (WCG), will implement this R210 million renewable energy project over the next three years.

The project comprises:

• 10 MW-hours of solar photovoltaic (PV) capable of generating 15 million kilowatt-hours annually;
• a battery energy storage system (BESS) with a storage capacity of 10 MW-hours will enable efficient energy storage and discharge; and
• the implementation of advanced monitoring and control systems for real-time performance tracking and optimisation.

The main objective of this pilot project is to ensure uninterrupted power supply to critical infrastructure, enhance public safety and essential services, and mitigate economic losses for the many businesses in the town. It will improve the quality of life for more than 22 000 residents.

“Through the Western Cape Energy Resilience programme, we are offering assistance and are enabling municipalities to help end power cuts. Part of the plan is not only about helping big municipalities but smaller ones too,” said Premier Winde.

He continued, “our journey to end load shedding in the Western Cape is well on its way. We have been working for several months already to get to this point with Mayor Riddles and his team. We will learn as we go. But we must be courageous and show commitment.”

Mayor Riddles thanked the WCG for its help in getting the initiative off the ground. “We are walking into a season of light. This will allow our local businesses to thrive, our economy to grow and for more jobs to be created,” he said.

“Through the Western Cape Energy Resilience programme we are offering assistance and are enabling municipalities to help end power cuts. We are well on our way to ending load shedding. We will learn as we go. But we must be courageous.” said Premier Winde.

The Premier stressed, “We have to do everything we can to tackle this crisis. This issue requires us all to become innovative. We cannot sit back and expect national government to end load shedding. It has had more than 15 years to come up with solutions yet here we are back in higher stages of power cuts. We will work closely with Hessequa Municipality and all municipalities to make the Western Cape the first province to end load shedding.”