The announcement that Cape Town is make ‘green’ electricity certificates available to power purchasers marks another milestone in the move toward renewable energy in South Africa.
The city on March 25 announced that businesses and individuals would be able to buy renewable energy generated by wind turbines situated on the R70 million Darling Wind Farm pilot project situated through the purchase of Green Energy Certificates (GECs)Although the biggest to date, Cape Town’s initiative is not the first. In 2007 the City of Tshwane made a similar purchase agreement with Amatola Green Power for three years. This ‘green electricity’ is generated from the burning of bagasse, a fibrous sugar cane matter, by Tongaat Hulett Sugar Limited. The City bought approximately 2MW (Megawatts) of green electricity which could be sold to consumers.
Cape Town’s move, involving an initial stock of 10GWh (Gigawatt hours), or 10 000kWh (Kilowatt hours) for sale via GECs, is more ambitious.
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