South Africa’s major metros are jumping on the solar feed-in bandwagon, with eThekwini Municipality and the City of Johannesburg announcing tariffs to sell power back to the grid.
They join the City of Cape Town, which has offered the ability to sell self-generated electricity to the grid since June 2023.
MyBroadband asked the City of Johannesburg, the City of Tshwane, and eThekwini Municipality how much they would pay customers to sell power back to the grid.
The City of Johannesburg’s local power utility — City Power — announced new electricity tariffs in early July, and it stated that it would implement a feed-in tariff for solar power users.
“For alternative energy tariffs, City Power is working on implementing a feed-in tariff, where customers with PV solar systems can feedback their excess power to the grid and reduce their monthly electricity bill,” it said.
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They join the City of Cape Town, which has offered the ability to sell self-generated electricity to the grid since June 2023.
MyBroadband asked the City of Johannesburg, the City of Tshwane, and eThekwini Municipality how much they would pay customers to sell power back to the grid.
The City of Johannesburg’s local power utility — City Power — announced new electricity tariffs in early July, and it stated that it would implement a feed-in tariff for solar power users.
“For alternative energy tariffs, City Power is working on implementing a feed-in tariff, where customers with PV solar systems can feedback their excess power to the grid and reduce their monthly electricity bill,” it said.
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“Residential embedded generator is approved for 85.50 c/kWh and for business and LPU embedded generator (<=1 MW) is approved for 70.85 c/kWh.”
However, it didn’t specify when the feed-in tariffs would take effect.
Lindiwe Khuzwayo, head of communication at eThekwini Municipality, told MyBroadband that it would let customers who don’t use all of their self-generated energy sell it back into the grid.
“The City has created a suite of net billing tariffs targeted at residential, businesses and industrial customers,” she said.
“Customers that do not utilize all their self-generated energy can now export it back into the grid.”
Customers must apply at one of the eThekwini Municipality’s Customer Service Centres to qualify.
“Once the application has been received, the city conducts the necessary technical evaluation, then proceeds with approvals for the customer to feed into the grid and be compensated on their municipal bill,” said Khuzwayo.
“Interested customers can visit the municipal website for more information on these specific tariffs.”
However, we could not find these specific tariffs on the eThekwini Municipal website.
The City of Tshwane didn’t provide feedback by the time of publication.
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In June 2023, City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for energy Beverley van Reenen said residents who use their solar installations before getting municipal approval wouldn’t be fined, provided they have started their application.
This came after installers operating in the metro complained that Cape Town had a months-long backlog of applications for rooftop solar and that residents without approval face R5,000–R7,000 fines.
“All solar PV systems installed within the city’s electricity supply area must be authorized by the city. Residents will not be fined if they can prove they have started the application process,” said Van Reenen.
She added that the city had adjusted its approval process to speed things up.
“From October 2023, all SSEG applications at the City of Cape Town will be treated as grid-tied systems. This means that all systems need a City-approved inverter and professional sign-off,” Van Reenen stated.
“An approved inverter means quicker authorization.”
A few weeks earlier, the City of Cape Town announced plans to slash its AMI meter administration fee — the monthly fee to use the meter necessary to feed power back to the grid — for the 2023/24 financial year.
Van Reenen told MyBroadband that the metro would reduce the fee to R5.66 from R96.20 per month.
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However, it didn’t specify when the feed-in tariffs would take effect.
Lindiwe Khuzwayo, head of communication at eThekwini Municipality, told MyBroadband that it would let customers who don’t use all of their self-generated energy sell it back into the grid.
“The City has created a suite of net billing tariffs targeted at residential, businesses and industrial customers,” she said.
“Customers that do not utilize all their self-generated energy can now export it back into the grid.”
Customers must apply at one of the eThekwini Municipality’s Customer Service Centres to qualify.
“Once the application has been received, the city conducts the necessary technical evaluation, then proceeds with approvals for the customer to feed into the grid and be compensated on their municipal bill,” said Khuzwayo.
“Interested customers can visit the municipal website for more information on these specific tariffs.”
However, we could not find these specific tariffs on the eThekwini Municipal website.
The City of Tshwane didn’t provide feedback by the time of publication.
Win for rooftop solar in Cape Town
In June 2023, City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for energy Beverley van Reenen said residents who use their solar installations before getting municipal approval wouldn’t be fined, provided they have started their application.
This came after installers operating in the metro complained that Cape Town had a months-long backlog of applications for rooftop solar and that residents without approval face R5,000–R7,000 fines.
“All solar PV systems installed within the city’s electricity supply area must be authorized by the city. Residents will not be fined if they can prove they have started the application process,” said Van Reenen.
She added that the city had adjusted its approval process to speed things up.
“From October 2023, all SSEG applications at the City of Cape Town will be treated as grid-tied systems. This means that all systems need a City-approved inverter and professional sign-off,” Van Reenen stated.
“An approved inverter means quicker authorization.”
A few weeks earlier, the City of Cape Town announced plans to slash its AMI meter administration fee — the monthly fee to use the meter necessary to feed power back to the grid — for the 2023/24 financial year.
Van Reenen told MyBroadband that the metro would reduce the fee to R5.66 from R96.20 per month.
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