The commercial and industrial businesses of Cape Town will be incentivized for their extra solar power. Businesses will be getting $0.05 per kilowatt-hour.
Cape Town is Offering Incentives for Excess Solar Power from Commercial and Industrial Business
According to the story by Clean Technica, Cape Town will be paying businesses in both the commercial and industrial fields for excess solar power. In order to avail of the extra cash, businesses will have until August 31 to submit their applications.
Although the offer is still exclusive to businesses, the city says residential customers could be receiving "similar calls in the near future." Applicants that don't hit the August 31 deadline will have to wait for the next rounds as their submission will be considered.
Businesses can Collect Incentives from the Small-scale Embedded Generation Feed-in Tariffs
The approved Small-scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) feed-in tariffs will be the ones buying the surplus energy. Eligible participants will be given three options for their compensation.
The first option would be for the businesses to receive an off-setting credit against their own electric account. This would allow them to stock up on credit to potentially use later when making expansions and their total solar power production won't carry the entire demand for electricity.
Businesses can Exchange Excess Solar Power for $0.05 per Kilowatt-Hour
The second option would be to receive off-setting credit for their rates account or another account that is under their name. This allows businesses with multiple locations to offset costs of electricity in other sections by using the credits gained for their excess solar power in another location.
The third and final option is to receive payment for the extra solar power in cash. As seen on the city's website, businesses will get 73.87 South African Rand cents per kWh which results in about $0.05 per kilowatt-hour.
Credits can be Accumulated During Periods of Low Consuption and Used During Periods of High Consumption
It was noted that the credits could be extremely useful for schools, universities, or other institutions that go through a period when their power consumption is low. This could include times of holidays, weekends, or in the event that a lockdown happens.
During periods of low consumption, the excess solar power can be credited for later on during periods of high consumption.
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Incentives Coincide with Increase of Global Shift Towards Solar Power
This incentive coincides with the global increase in demand for using solar power. With countries around the world providing similar incentives, some businesses and residents are slowly making the switch toward renewable energy.
As noted by the article, in 2021, there were approximately 380,000 new rooftop solar systems installed in Australia. Another market that has seen an increase in rooftop solar is Vietnam with now over 101,000 rooftop solar systems being deployed.
The rooftop solar systems in Vietnam stretch around residential, commercial, and industrial premises throughout the country. This resulted in the quick addition of 9,000 MW of rooftop solar power.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
