Major boost for Steenbras for load-shedding protection
12 September 2023
The City’s Mayoral Committee has recommended to Council to approve an injection of some R107 million for the provision of professional services for the refurbishment of Steenbras over the next few years. This will ensure that Cape Town’s faithful Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme is refurbished and well-maintained to continue load-shedding protection.
All due process will be followed in terms of regulatory and legislative requirements. The budget and execution of the professional services will determine the final budget and delivery programme.
'This multi-year contract for the provision of professional services comprises some R107 million to enable the refurbishment of this valuable Cape Town asset that is protecting customers from up to two stages of load-shedding where possible. The contract period is 108 month from date of commencement and is programmed to start 15 February 2024 and end 30 June 2032. It will lay the foundation for the refurbishment of the plant.
'This is the Cape Town difference: we continue to roll out plans to ensure we can within the next two years provide load-shedding protection of up to four stages where feasible while focusing on proper maintenance and investment in our infrastructure for reliable service delivery.
'Importantly, all Capetonians benefit directly or indirectly from the City's power generation management and load-shedding protection as it also protects critical City infrastructure used for service provision and protects the City's electricity network,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen.
About the Steenbras Hydro Pump Station
The 180 megawatt Steenbras Hydro Pump Station (SHPS) consists of four turbines that are used to generate electricity.
During peak electricity demand, it channels water from Upper Steenbras to Lower Steenbras, through the turbine generator, to create electricity.
When electricity usage is low, usually between 23:00 and 07:00, the turbines pump the water back to the Upper Steenbras Dam to be re-used the next day. In this way, SHPS operates like a battery. The amount of electricity that it can generate in one day is limited by the capacity of the lower reservoir.
Cape Town is the only city in South Africa to own and operate a large pumped hydro-electric scheme.
- Regular maintenance and good management is imperative to ensure that this power station works well to offset high tariff and demand periods as well as to protect City-supplied customers from stages of load-shedding where possible.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
