Growthpoint and Etana Energy wheel pooled renewable electricity to five Cape Town properties

The arrangement currently supplies five Growthpoint buildings, including its newly refurbished 36 Hans Strijdom foreshore building, which underwent an environmentally innovative retrofit and now runs entirely on renewable energy. Image supplied.

The pooling pilot has enabled Etana Energy to wheel energy from Eskom-connected generators to a pool of Growthpoint buildings on the city’s grid.

Etana completed the first pooled allocation in April 2026.

Wheeling in clean energy

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.

Serengeti Energy and Growthpoint co-own it, Serengeti Energy manages it, and Etana Energy acts 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 participating Growthpoint properties.

Renewable-powered buildings

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 Ninety One, the office building sources 100% of its grid electricity through the pooled renewable allocation, showing 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, Growthpoint aims to expand wheeled energy to more than 30 of its properties in the Mother City, comprising a mix of retail, logistics, industrial, office, healthcare and student accommodation properties.

Etana Energy acts as the licensed electricity trader and single point of accountability, managing and settling variable electricity charges across the entire customer portfolio.

This 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 Energy, 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.

Growthpoint’s 36 Hans Strijdom symbolises the transition from coal-powered past to a net-zero future

Catchwords 1 Sep 2026

Eskom’s pivotal role

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.

More are planned to come online in the coming months, 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.

As the Etana wheeled energy pool expands, many more businesses stand to benefit.