Shoprite Group joins Cape Town’s renewable energy pilot

The Shoprite Group has partnered with NERSA-licensed energy retailer Enpower Trading to take part in a renewable energy pilot in Cape Town, which is expected to be a key tool in the city’s carbon reduction strategy.

Shoprite is currently one of the companies taking part in the City of Cape Town’s Wheeling pilot program. The program aims to make the city more resilient to power outages and is part of a broader strategy to introduce more renewable energy into the city’s grid.

The pilot allows Shoprite to generate renewable energy at its Checkers Hyper Brackenfell site in Fairbridge Mall, which has a large, built-in solar system, with excess energy being sent via the city grid to its head office.

Shoprite has partnered with Enpower Trading, a licensed energy retailer, to facilitate the wheeling process. Enpower Trading is one of the few companies with municipal wheeling experience, wheeling in George Municipality from 2022.

“We are excited to be part of the Wheeling City pilot with Shoprite Group,” said James Beatty, CEO of Enpower Trading. “This partnership is an example of our commitment to promoting renewable energy solutions and contributing to a greener future for Cape Town.”

These initial actions in Cape Town demonstrate the gradual commitment of both parties to sustainable energy practices, while also pointing to the potential for effective public-private cooperation in addressing the country’s energy crisis.

“We are very excited about this pilot project and look forward to working with Enpower Trading. We put a lot of hard work into the city’s energy programmes. Our wheeling pilot is organised into six coherent work packages which form the basis of the contractual agreements, the city wheeling and associated feed-in tariffs, the metering and data requirements, the wheeling implementation which includes metering agreements and verification, and testing and evaluation,” said Councillor Beverley van Reenen, Member of the Mayor’s Energy Committee.

Once the pilot is complete, Shoprite will have the opportunity to significantly increase its renewable energy market share by sourcing additional energy for its domestic retail needs from Enpower Trading’s renewable energy portfolio across the country.