- The City of Johannesburg’s new mayor, Mr Mpho Moerane, has signed a two year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Kelvin Power to increase power supply capacity to the city.
- The plan is to ensure that City Power has a reliable supply of power in the process of migrating some areas in the City of Johannesburg currently supplied by Eskom.
- Kelvin Power Station is an independently owned, 360MW coal-fired power station, located in Kempton Park, Gauteng.
The Kelvin Power Station was originally owned by the City of Johannesburg. They sold it off back in 2001 to the private sector. Energy company, Anergi, is currently the majority shareholder who is also responsible for operations and maintenance. The plant has six operational 60MW generators and seven PF type boilers.
“It is a great pleasure to proclaim that Kelvin Power Station is returning home… It is good to have them back where they belong at the centre of serving the people of Johannesburg”, said Mayor Mpho Moerane during his opening remarks at the sign off brief hosted on Friday.
“The agreement is to ensure continuity of a reliable power supply by the municipality. City Power was able to provide electricity even when Eskom had implemented load-shedding especially during stages one and two. It has thus become important for the City of Johannesburg, through our power utility City Power, to continue the business relationship with Kelvin Power Station,” says Moerane.
Gauteng premier David Makhura, who was also at the press briefing, said the partnership would add 100MW of power – from 80MW to 180MW- to the city’s electricity supply. The deal is also expected to reduce electricity costs, with Johannesburg’s City Power expected to save over R1.4 billion in bulk purchase cost, he said.
The agreement enables the city to facilitate City Power taking over areas whose electricity was previously supplied by Eskom, notably the communities of Soweto, Orange Farm, Finetown, Ivory Park and parts of Sandton.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
