Further to its energy security initiatives to become independent from the national grid, the City of Cape Town has issued a request for information (RFI) asking the market for energy trading solutions, including market operation and underwriting and energy aggregation services.

Interested stakeholders are invited to access the RFI on the city’s tender portal and to submit responses by April 19.

Although the RFI is open to all players in the energy industry, the city encourages responses from energy trading platforms, market operators or energy aggregators.

A trading platform may take the form of a digital platform that enables the facilitation of bilateral energy supply agreements between generators or sellers and offtakers or buyers through transmission and/or municipal distribution grids.

Trading platforms often offer the choice of low-carbon and renewable energy supply, competitive and transparent rates and a variety of terms, ranging from short to long term, thereby providing a dynamic and flexible power trading market.

Energy MMC Beverley van Reenen says Cape Town is the first metropolitan to undertake such an RFI, which seeks to test the market for innovative energy trading related services and models that can accommodate the peculiarities of local government procurement.

She adds that the city plans to procure about 1 000 MW in total over the long term, including 200 MW of embedded renewable energy through independent power producers and a 500 MW dispatchable energy tender, which includes renewables, battery storage and gas-to-power aspects.

Cape Town also has a demand response tender out in the energy aggregator field called the Power Heroes programme, which forms part of its plan to protect the city from up to four stages of Eskom loadshedding.

“It is evident that the South African electricity supply system is undergoing rapid change under the immense pressure of escalating supply shortages. To meet this growing challenge, we will need to be innovative.

“Cape Town intends to explore all alternatives and options, particularly ones that can provide the most benefit in the short term,” Van Reenen states.

The models and services proposed through the RFI can be a key transition and resilience lever and may inform the planning of future energy initiatives implemented by the city.