Cape Town First S. African City Seeking to Hire Power Traders

Cape Town has issued a tender seeking proposals from electricity traders as it moves to establish a panel of suppliers to help power South Africa’s second-largest city.

The tender, announced on Friday, is an attempt to streamline the process of procuring power rather than having the city buy it from individual generators, said Kadri Nassiep, executive director of energy for the city, in an interview. Contracts for power provision sought through the panel will run for three years or longer, he said. The city may procure as much as 500 megawatts of power, according to the tender.