Energy trader Etana Energy, JSE-listed real estate investment trust Growthpoint Properties and the City of Cape Town have successfully implemented the first pooled wheeling of renewable electricity model across multiple properties within the city’s municipal network.

Building on the City of Cape Town’s first renewable electricity wheeling pilot, launched with Growthpoint and Etana in 2023, the parties say the new pooled wheeling model represents the next evolution of municipal wheeling.

The pooling pilot project has enabled Etana to wheel energy from State-owned Eskom-connected generators to a pool of Growthpoint buildings connected to the city’s grid. The first pooled allocation was completed in April.

Pooled wheeling lets electricity from one or more remote generation sites be allocated across a portfolio of customers on a grid.  By matching supply and demand across the portfolio, rather than site by site, it creates a simpler, more flexible and scalable way to allocate and settle electricity. 

For the pilot, renewable electricity is supplied from the Boston hydroelectric plant, near Clarens in the Free State, co-owned by independent power producer Serengeti Energy and Growthpoint and managed by Serengeti Energy, with Etana acting as the exclusive offtaker and licensed trader.

The electricity is wheeled across the Eskom network to Cape Town’s municipal grid, where it is allocated to the pool of participating Growthpoint properties.

The arrangement currently supplies five Growthpoint buildings, including its newly refurbished 36 Hans Strijdom foreshore building, which underwent an environmentally innovative retrofit, and is now fully powered by renewable energy.

Occupied by global investment manager Ninety One, the office building sources 100% of its grid electricity through the pooled renewable allocation, demonstrating what is possible for commercial buildings in dense urban environments.

The other four buildings are Constantia Village Mall, Centennial Place in Century City, Montclare Place in Claremont and Newlands on Main.

In the coming months, the parties note that Growthpoint has set its sights on expanding the wheeled energy to a total of more than 30 of its properties in the city, comprising a mix of retail, logistics, industrial, office, healthcare and student accommodation properties.

Etana is the single point of accountability, managing and settling variable electricity charges across the entire portfolio of customers.

The parties explain that this significantly simplifies billing for the municipality and customers alike, while giving participating customers access to competitively priced renewable electricity.

The initiative is the result of over 18 months of collaboration between Etana, the City of Cape Town and Growthpoint, bringing together expertise in electricity trading and municipal systems, as well as innovative and sustainable property portfolio solutions.

The parties also acknowledge the pivotal role that Eskom Distribution Western Cape played in this collaboration.

The Boston hydroelectric plant is the first of several generation facilities that will supply the Etana pool in Cape Town.

The parties note that more are planned to come online in the coming months, further expanding renewable electricity supply to Etana’s customers within the municipality.

This includes more than 25 other Growthpoint-owned properties in Cape Town, as well as the V&A Waterfront.

The parties say that many more businesses stand to benefit from the continued expansion of the Etana wheeled energy pool over time.

Growthpoint Properties South Africa CEO Estienne de Klerk explains that, for more than a decade, Growthpoint has been driving sustainability initiatives towards the goal of carbon neutrality across the portfolio by 2050.

Growthpoint installed its first rooftop solar in 2011 and, to date, has invested over R1-billion in solar energy.

The company has grown one of South Africa's most diversified private renewable energy portfolios, and in October 2025, Growthpoint officially began delivering wheeled renewable hydro-generated electricity directly to several of its buildings and their tenants.

“Pooled wheeling is the next logical step, and a significant one at that. What makes this different is scale and simplicity.

“By matching renewable electricity supply across a portfolio of buildings rather than property by property, we can deliver clean electricity for our tenants more flexibly, more efficiently and at a competitive price.

“None of this happens without the City of Cape Town's willingness to innovate alongside us, or Etana's expertise in making the trading and settlement mechanics actually work. The right partners make the difference between a concept and a result. We're committed to delivering the right results,” says De Klerk.

Etana CEO Evan Rice notes that this milestone demonstrates the viability of dynamically allocating renewable electricity across multiple customers, highlighting how traders can effectively mitigate and manage the risk of mismatched supply and demand at individual generator and customer level.

Crucially, he says it also simplifies wheeling processes and billing for utilities and customers.

“We are very grateful to the team at the City of Cape Town for their commitment to innovation and their collaborative approach to finding solutions that enable renewable-energy adoption in the city.

“And, of course, to Growthpoint, who continue to demonstrate their commitment and appetite to lead on sustainability in the property sector. It is especially satisfying to be able to supply clean energy to our own head office in Growthpoint’s Newlands on Main building, allowing us to live our values and demonstrate what is possible for businesses in South Africa,” says Rice.

The city’s energy MMC Alderman Xanthea Limberg says the city’s pooled wheeling facility represents a decisive leap in advancing the bold vision set out in its Energy Strategy. 

“Cape Town stands proudly as South Africa’s leading metropolitan championing a just energy transition and pioneering innovative approaches informed by progressive policy shifts that have not only liberalised the energy market in our city but will also secure renewable energy to power up communities and businesses for decades ahead.

“This latest achievement further cements Cape Town as Africa’s leading green energy hub, that demonstrates a strong commitment to resilience, reliability, and carbon neutrality. We extend our gratitude to our private sector partners, Etana and Growthpoint, whose collaboration has been vital to bringing this game-changing initiative to fruition,” says Limberg.