Collaborate with us to alleviate energy poverty in Cape Town
We are looking to form collaborative relationships with businesses and residents to help us achieve our goal of alleviating energy poverty in Cape Town. If you have an innovative and sustainable technological, financial or social solution, or you are currently researching energy poverty, we want to hear from you.
Why partner?
Although Cape Town is largely electrified, many households experience the negative consequences of not having access to sufficient, affordable and safe energy to meet their monthly energy needs.
The Free Basic Electricity subsidy that is available to qualifying households is very limited, and in addition, thousands of houses are not grid-connected.
To help alleviate energy poverty, we are looking to collaborate with businesses and residents in finding innovative, affordable and user-acceptable energy solutions - including the efficient and safe use of energy.
Your participation can help to maintain and enhance the energy services that are available to low-income communities in Cape Town.
Advantages of alleviating energy poverty
Access to clean and safe energy services provides:
- a safer and healthier environment,
- improved access to education and job opportunities,
- stimulation for long-term social and economic development.
Broad areas of focus
- Application of appropriate design principles and construction techniques to promote thermal efficiency in informal and formal dwellings.
- Effective education and awareness raising for low-income energy users, including information about energy efficiency, safety, tampering and theft.
- Energy grants and subsidies for low-income households
- Energy storage solutions
- Promotion and facilitation of cleaner energy sources for cooking such as the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) instead of paraffin and biomass.
- Promotion of safe and efficient use of all available energy resources
- The use of new and innovative technologies such as rooftop solar PV, solar water heaters, battery storage and smart grid functionality.
Download our
Alleviation of Energy Poverty Booklet and
pamphlet for more information.
Projects that organisations can assist with
Shack-mounted outdoor solar lighting
The City provides public lighting in the form of high-mast lights in residential areas where access roads are limited. Although high-mast lights provide light to a large area, the quality of light tends to be poor in the small pathways between shacks because of the deep shadows they cast.
Poor quality light is prevalent in settlements that are not connected to grid electricity because the households cannot supplement the lighting from the high-mast lights with outdoor lights to improve the quality of light. Subsequently, due to the prevalence of crime, residents are unable to access communal services such as toilets and water service points at night because they are typically located on the outskirts of the settlements, and are unable to enjoy the outdoors after dark.
The City seeks corporate social investment (CSI) funding, donations or sponsorship for shack-mounted solar lights for informal settlements that are not yet connected to grid electricity.
Indoor solar lights
Solar lights provide good quality indoor light, are safe to use and can be charged easily. The City is seeking partnerships, funding, donations and sponsorship and for awareness-raising around indoor solar lights for households in informal settlements that are not connected to grid electricity.
Safe candlestick holders
Candles are a major cause of fires in informal settlements. Various low-cost, safe candlestick holders have been designed and could benefit those living in informal settlements. The City is seeking CSI funding, donations and sponsorship for safe candlestick holders for informal settlements and for awareness-raising around how to make a safe candlestick holder.
Community energy use and perception surveys
The Low-income Energy Services (LINES) Unit is currently planning a household survey focusing on energy use patterns, willingness to pay for alternative energy sources and perceptions of household energy options in unelectrified areas. Funding is sought to expand this research into low-income electrified areas as well.
Smart cookers and wonder bags
A smart cooker insulates the pot and allows it to continue cooking the food once it has begun to boil without using further energy from the stove. This will save people money. It is easy to make a smart cooker using readily available materials. Organisations are welcome to assist the City in raising awareness around how to easily make a smart cooker or to donate smart cookers or wonderb ags to low-income households in the City.
The Environmental Management Department in partnership with the Langa Early Childhood Development (ECD) Integrated Partnership Forum is currently involved in smart cooking training for 35 ECD cooks that provide food for about 1 500 children daily.
To allow the ECDs to save water, electricity and time and provide more hot meals for the children, catering-size smart cookers are critically needed. Donations of these cookers for the ECDs will be much appreciated. The programme will be rolled out to ECDs in other parts of the City on completion of the training. A monitoring programme forms part of this training.
If you are interested in providing funding or collaborating on any of the above projects or would like more information, email
sustainableenergy.markets@capetown.gov.za.
Who should respond?
All proposals are welcome, but we are particularly interested in proposals from organisations with proven experience in energy poverty alleviation in Cape Town.
Collaborate with us
Step 1: Read the
Call for Collaboration Guideline to find out what is required from you.
Step 2: Download and complete the response template (Annexure A)
Requirements:
- Your response must be limited to approximately 10 pages, including supporting documentation.
- Solutions need to be affordable, sustainable and acceptable for targeted communities. They also need to be legal, politically acceptable and resistant to theft and vandalism.
- Energy subsidies need to be fraud proof and efficiently dispensed.
- We may request further clarification in the form of brief verbal communication by telephone, written communication, electronic communication, or a presentation.
Step 3: Email the response template and all supporting documents to
sustainableenergymarkets.enquiries@capetown.gov.za.
Please note
- We will not provide feedback on your submission.
- This call for collaboration does not constitute a tender and does not bind the City to do business with any one or more respondents.
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