The City of Cape Town has awarded the tender for the engineering, procurement, and construction of its Atlantis solar photovoltaic (PV) plant to Lesedi Technoserve Consortium.

Construction of the city’s first grid-connected 7 MW plant is planned to start in August and will be completed within 12 months, with transmission of the first power into the grid expected towards the end of 2025.

“The plant will be connected to Cape Town’s electrical network at a nearby main substation and feed the 7 MW of generated electricity directly into the grid. It is the first utility-scale renewable energy project in Cape Town and will be owned and operated by the city,” said Beverly van Reenen, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy. 

The Atlantis PV project is one of the initiatives the City is undertaking to achieve its energy strategy 2050 vision of ‘Energy Security for a Prosperous Cape Town’. It will also contribute toward Cape Town’s goal of net-zero carbon municipal buildings by 2030.

“In addition to our overarching goal of lessening reliance on Eskom through our diverse initiatives and facilitating access to cleaner, more cost-effective energy sources, we are focused on enhancing our local economy. Our Atlantis project is set to generate employment opportunities across various skill levels,” said van Reenen.