Growthpoint Properties, Etana Energy, and the City of Cape Town have implemented the first pooled wheeling of renewable electricity across multiple properties within the City’s municipal network.

The latest implementation builds on the municipality’s first renewable electricity wheeling project, launched with Growthpoint and Etana Energy in 2023. The new pooling pilot project has enabled Etana Energy to wheel energy from Eskom-connected generators to a pool of the REIT’s buildings connected to the City’s grid. The first pooled allocation was completed in April 2026.

Pooled wheeling allows electricity from one or more remote generation sites to 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 energy is supplied from the Boston Hydroelectric Plant In the Free State, co-owned by Serengeti Energy and Growthpoint with Etana Energy 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 of Growthpoint’s buildings including its new refurbished 36 Hans Strijdom foreshore building tenanted by Ninety One – now fully powered by renewable energy, with the building sourcing 100% of its grid electricity through the pooled renewable allocation.

The other four buildings are Constantia Village Mall, Centennial Place in Century City, Montclare Place in Claremont and Newlands on Main. Growthpoint says it plans to expand the wheeled energy to a total of more than 30 of its properties in Cape Town.

For more than a decade, Growthpoint has driven sustainability initiatives towards its goal of carbon neutrality across its portfolio by 2050, having installed its first rooftop solar in 2011 and to date, invested over R1 billion in solar energy.

“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 Energy’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 Estienne de Klerk, SA CEO of Growthpoint Properties.

The initiative is the result of over 18 months of collaboration between Etana Energy, the City of Cape Town and Growthpoint.