The City of Cape Town, Etana Energy and Growthpoint Properties have completed South Africa’s first pooled renewable electricity wheeling allocation across multiple properties connected to a municipal electricity network.
The first pooled allocation was completed in April 2026, building on Cape Town’s initial renewable wheeling pilot launched with Growthpoint and Etana Energy in 2023.
The new model allows renewable electricity generated remotely to be dynamically allocated across multiple customer sites connected to the city’s grid rather than matching supply to individual properties on a one-to-one basis.
According to the project partners, the arrangement enables greater flexibility in balancing electricity supply and demand across a portfolio of buildings while simplifying settlement and billing processes.
The pilot wheels renewable electricity generated at the Boston hydroelectric plant near Clarens in the Free State through the Eskom transmission network into Cape Town’s municipal grid where it is allocated across five Growthpoint properties. These include 36 Hans Strijdom in the Foreshore, Constantia Village Mall, Centennial Place in Century City, Montclare Place in Claremont and Newlands on Main.
Etana Energy acts as the licensed electricity trader and is responsible for managing the settlement of variable electricity charges across the participating properties.
The company said this trader-led model provides a single point of accountability while simplifying billing administration for the municipality and customers.
“This milestone demonstrates the viability of allocating renewable electricity across multiple customers, highlighting how traders can effectively mitigate and manage the risk of mismatched supply and demand at individual generator and customer level,” Evan Rice, CEO of Etana Energy, said.
The project is the result of more than 18 months of collaboration between the city, Etana Energy and Growthpoint with support from Eskom Distribution Western Cape.
Growthpoint plans to expand the wheeled energy allocation to more than 30 properties across Cape Town in the coming months, spanning retail, logistics, industrial, office, healthcare and student accommodation assets. The V&A Waterfront is also expected to join the wheeling pool as additional generation facilities are brought online.
Growthpoint SA CEO Estienne de Klerk described pooled wheeling as the next step in scaling portfolio-wide renewable electricity supply.
“What makes this different is scale and simplicity. By matching renewable electricity supply across a portfolio of buildings rather than property by property, we can deliver clean electricity more flexibly, more efficiently and at a competitive price,” he said.
Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Energy Alderman Xanthea Limberg said the development aligns with the city’s broader energy strategy to expand market participation and accelerate renewable energy uptake through municipal grid infrastructure.
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