Plans are in the pipeline to have the City of Cape Town build its first solar power plant next year in order to deal Eskom unreliable electricity supply.

Atlantis has been earmarked for the plant.

The municipality says it has opened the tender process for engineering, procurement and construction for the seven megawatts plant. The project forms part of the City’s interventions to end load-shedding over time.

The plant is expected to start generating electricity in 2024 and be in operation for 20 years. It’s anticipated to have an annual output of nearly 15 gigawatt hours.

City’s Mayco member for Energy and Climate Change Councillor Beverley van Reenen says the solar plant will enhance the municipality’s financial sustainability as the cost of generating the electricity would be lower than the bulk procurement from Eskom. However, it’s unclear if the lower costs will filter down to the end user such as residents.