The Executive Mayor of Mogale City, Cllr Koketso Seerane has unveiled a R3.5 billion alternative energy plan in his state of the city address.

In partnership with Blue Waste to Energy, the municipality will be able to generate 72 MV/h from 550 000 tonnes of waste per year. The power plant will be located at the Luipaardsvlei Landfill site and will convert waste disposed at the municipal landfill sites into electricity in an environmentally friendly manner.

The technology does not use any form of incineration, creates no smoke emissions onto the atmosphere and does not use any water. It will be the first of its kind in the country.

The mayor also said that, alongside this initiative, the municipality will support development of a large scale solar energy project in Fariahville which will produce at least 100 MW/h and supply about 20 000 homes.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa is currently considering applications for energy generation licenses from both initiatives. It is envisaged that these will come into stream within eighteen months.

“In addition to the accolades we receive for being an efficiently run municipality, we would like to add a feather in our cap as the most green city in South Africa,” said Seerane.

The municipality has approved R684 million worth of investments in the year under review, and has several billion and multimillion rand developments taking place in all four corners of the city.

The mayor announced that there was a handover of the site to the contractor to install bulk services at the long-awaited R1.5 billion Leratong Nodal Development, the R1.2 billion Avianto mixed development in Muldersdrift is also underway and so is the R10.5 billion Lanseria Airport City and logistics hub above it and the R350 million Netcare private hospital in Pinehaven below it. The R500 million Rangeview Development will also take off, followed closely by the Noordeheuwel Development.

Eskom is investing R127 million to strengthening and refurbishment projects in Mogale City, the anchor of the envisaged West Rand metro, and will assist the municipality with electrification projects in the informal settlements commencing with Matshelapata.