How business can rewire energy system

CAPE

- TAZ CASSIM

BUILDING a locally controlled, renewable energy system is not just an environmental or commercial strategy - it is a hedge against global volatility, says the writer. I Archive

Town has proven it can lead. Now it must harness that capability to drive energy generation through coordinated private action. Patchwork fixes and incremental steps will only keep the city running in place. To achieve meaningful post-apartheid economic transformation, Cape Town needs to fundamentally redesign its energy system ~ not through government alone, but through deliberate, collective action by business.This moment demands scale. Individually, most companies are too small to finance meaningful energy infrastructure. Together, they are not. The answer is an energy buying and generation cooperative - a privately owned mini-utility that aggregates 50 to 300 megawatts of demand across retail chains, industrial parks and property portfolios. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) can then secure long-term power purchase agreements, attract institutional investment, and build generation capacity that no single firm could achieve alone.

Fragmented demand becomes real economic power — capable of reaching across the social spectrum. Cape Town does not need to generate all its electricity within city limits. That is an outdated constraint. The Western Cape’ advantage lies in geography: solar in the Northern Cape, wind in the Eastern Cape, hydro at Steenbras, and waste-to-energy closer to urban centres.