Cape Town introduces credit or cash for excess solar power

The test phase is over and Cape Town residents can now start selling their excess solar power back to the city. This is great news for residents, but also for the city as it enables it to deliver better services.

It is also an important motivator for households and businesses to continue the drive to instal solar systems. Provided you register with the city and follow the correct procedure, households can get credits against their municipal costs (electricity, rates and taxes etc.).

Once they reach an excess of R1,000, they can start accumulating cash which will be paid out once a year. This, however, requires an additional application under the programme called "Cash for Power".

Applications to participate in the "Cash for Power" scheme must be submitted to hoosain.essop@capetown.gov.za by the 8th of March 2024. Late submissions will be held over for the next round.

To participate in the credit or cash for power scheme, you would need to follow the particular procedure, and it requires a grid-tied solar PV system with a city-approved inverter. The installer must apply to the city for the grid connection before installation. The city then installs an AMI meter with the relevant SSEG Feed-in Tariff rate.

The excess electricity is then credited at the stipulated rate (see more about this on the COCT website, link below) to their municipal account. The credit is initially offset against your monthly account, and the remaining credit will, once it exceeds R1,000 be paid back in cash once a year.

Those who do not want the cash back, need not apply. Their accumulated credits will simply continue to be offset against their monthly electricity and rates accounts.

Importantly, those who want to participate in the "Cash for Power" scheme, must also register as a service provider on both the City Supplier Database and the National Treasury web-based Central Supplier Database (CSD), accessible below. In line with Supply Chain rules, successful "Cash for Power" sellers will contract with the City for a period of three years after appointment.

Link to register as a supplier with the City of Cape Town:

https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Register/Business-and-trade/Register-as-a-supplier

Link to register as a supplier on the National Treasury Central Supplier Database (CSD):

https://secure.csd.gov.za/

The city is willing to buy as much as possible which means there is plenty of opportunity for residents and businesses with excess power to earn back some cash which they could then offset against the cost of their installation for example.

The city is also pioneering a scheme that will enable businesses to cross-sell power which aims to add an additional 350MW of decentralised power to the city's power grid. It forms part of the city's roadmap to 2050, and short-term plans to protect against the first four stages of Eskom load-shedding by 2026.

Additionally, the "Power Heroes" programme enables households to volunteer to remotely switch off geysers at peak times which could assist in avoiding a full stage of load-shedding.

Read more about this topic here:

https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/751038/cape-town-starts-buying-excess-solar-from-residents-heres-how-to-apply/

Or go directly to the City of Cape Town source page here:

https://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/How%20to%20get%20cash%20for%20power

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