Name of the Project
Paardevlei ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage project.

Location
Outside Somerset West, in Cape Town, in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

Project Owner/s
City of Cape Town (CoCT) Sustainable Energy Markets Department within the Energy Directorate.

Project Description
Paardevlei is one of two projects awarded support from the C40 Cities Finance Facility (CFF), which offers cities technical and financial assistance in support of a green and just transition.

The CFF will assist the CoCT with its aims to design, build and operate a solar PV plant with battery storage, capable of providing 30 MW to 60 MW of renewable energy – a full stage of loadshedding protection.

The projects will place the City at the forefront of global trends for a more climate-resilient urban development and positively contribute to commitments to limit global temperature increase to 1. 5 ºC as required by the Paris Climate Agreement. 

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
R1.2-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The development for both projects has started and is expected to take three years.

Latest Developments
The project feasibility phase started in June 2023 and is envisaged to be completed by the end of July 2024. 

Thus far, various studies have been completed, including environment, financial options analysis, legal and institutional, site development, grid integration and load studies. Also, the environmental-impact and water-use licence application are under way and will be finalised by end August 2024. 

The project team is also considering various procurement strategies for execution.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
C40 CFF (technical feasibility study).

Contact Details for Project Information
City of Cape Town, email contact.us@capetown.gov.za.