The City of Cape Town has commissioned a new gas-to-energy facility at the Coastal Park landfill that will generate enough electricity to power more than 4 000 households. The project is part of the city’s broader strategy to diversify supply, cut emissions and reduce reliance on Eskom.
During the opening of the plant, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the plant “is another important step in ending load shedding over time” and demonstrates how municipalities can convert waste streams into a local energy resource.
The Coastal Park facility captures landfill gas produced by decomposing waste and converts it into electricity through an on-site generation unit. Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management Grant Twigg said the plant will produce approximately 1,3 million kWh per month with around 1,2 million kWh exported to the municipal grid and the remainder used for landfill operations.
According to the city, the project represents a R93 million investment. Cape Town has already earned R36 million in carbon credit revenue from methane reduction programmes across its landfill sites and views gas-to-energy as a dual environmental and energy opportunity.
Cape Town plans to invest a further R82 million over the next three years to expand gas-to-power projects at other landfill sites. The city’s broader strategy includes a mix of independent power procurement, embedded generation, battery storage and demand-side management. The facility is fully integrated into the city’s electrical network and is now supplying power into the municipal grid.
