Premier

(1)(a)(i) The mandate of the Western Cape Energy Council is to –

• Ensure that the Western Cape implements a clear, ambitious and realistic plan for addressing the immediate impacts of load shedding as well as medium- and longer-term resilience
• Generating ideas and solutions to the energy crisis
• Forging partnerships with academia, the private sector and others to embark on joint initiatives
• Unblocking impediments to the implementation of proposed solutions
• Advising on actions to be taken
• Tracking performance of the implementation plan

     (b) There is no budget for the Energy Council.

(c)  The members of the Energy Council are appointed ex officio and not in their personal capacity.

• The Premier of the Western Cape, as the Chairperson of the Energy Council
• Ministers of:

• Finance and Economic Opportunities
• Local Government and Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
• Infrastructure
• Agriculture

• Premier’s Energy Advisor
• The Director-General
• Mayors or Energy representatives from the following Municipalities:

• City of Cape Town
• Drakenstein
• George
• Mossel Bay
• Saldanha Bay
• Stellenbosch

• External Stakeholders (as and when required)

(2)(a)(i) The Western Cape Energy Resilience Programme is made up of six components, the first of which aims to reduce the impacts of load shedding on businesses and citizens in the Western Cape. The other five aim to lower the level of reliance on Eskom. These include a Provincial Integrated Resource Plan, a Demand Side Management Programme, a New Energy Generation Programme, and a Network Development Programme, all of which are supported by work aimed at increasing investment in energy sector.

The demand side management programme will inform businesses and citizens of their options to reduce energy usage (and consequently save on energy costs), will enable businesses and households to right-size and reduce their investments in alternative energy systems and is aimed at enabling negotiations with National government regarding load shedding buffering for the province.

The new energy generation programme includes supporting municipal IPP procurement with transaction advisory and other project preparation services to advance projects towards implementation, while exploring and implementing a pooled buying mechanism that should enable projects at lower risk and cost; continuing to support  private sector utility-scale projects, wheeling and small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) at a bigger scale and more urgently than previously; and enabling households to implement alternative energy systems.

The network development programme will enable the WCG to understand, quantify, cost, strategize and ultimately implement (collectively enabling) the infrastructure and associated technical systems needed to support the growth in energy generation and load / demand in the Western Cape. 

The financing work will include the development and implementation of a Just Energy Transition Investment Plan for the required energy projects and infrastructure that will be used to attract investment and create new industries and jobs, and that will also help the WC to achieve energy resilience. The work includes the development and implementation of new and innovative financing and other mechanisms.

The different elements of the Western Cape Energy Resilience Programme will be run by several WCG departments.

(ii) The Energy Plan has been approved, targets have been set and projects identified. Project scoping is underway.

(b)     The key departments involved in the development of the Energy Plan and the lead individuals from each included:

Department	Individuals
Department of the Premier	Harry Malila Hildegarde Fast
Department of Economic Development and Tourism	Velile Dube Helen Davies Ajay Trikam
Department of Infrastructure	Jacqui Gooch Labeeqah Schuurman
Department of Local Government	Graham Paulse
Provincial Treasury	David Savage Taryn van de Rheede
Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning	Gerhard Gerber
Department of Agriculture	Mogale Sebopetsa

 

The above list excludes those who were involved in the Growth for Jobs Strategy: Energy Priority Focus Area development process, which also informed the energy plan.

The Core Energy Team in the Department of the Premier co-ordinated the work and the Premier played the lead oversight role through chairing the Western Cape Energy Council.

       (c) The Budget for the Energy Plan is:

Year	2023/24 R’000	2024/25 R’000	2025/26 R’000	MTEF R’000
Allocations	257,180	203,893	217,542	678,615
Reserve budgets	267,360	159,867	74,298	501,525
Total	524,540	363,760	291,840	1,180,140