Cape Town: The Energy Directorate of the City of Cape Town is proud to announce that its Paardevlei 132kV Switching Station has received two major accolades. The International Project Management Association (IPMA) Global Project Excellence Awards 2025 – Silver Winner (small to medium project) and the Project Management (PM) Summit and Prestige Awards 2025 – Project of the year Runner Up.
Reportedly, these accolades affirm the commitment of the City of Cape Town to reach excellence in Energy Infrastructure Development.
The Paardevlei 132kV Switching Station was selected as the City’s submission for these prestigious awards due to its strategic impact, technical innovation and successful delivery under challenging conditions.
Furthermore, the project introduced a state of the art switching station equipped with modern gas-insulated switchgear technology to strengthen the electricity network of Cape Town.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Energy – Alderman Xanthea Limberg said that these awards demonstrate excellence in infrastructure delivery and highlights the capabilities of the teams, in the Energy Directorate across the municipality.
Limberg said, despite this project being implemented during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the project was completed with only 1.4% cost variation on the R152.2 million budget, which illustrates the strong financial and project management discipline.
Head of the Transmission System Development – Ina Kruger said that the Energy team did an excellent job in navigating the ever-changing regulations and site challenges. Their response to such challenges sharpened focus on the delivery and this project is one of high strategic importance and lays the foundation for future grid connections, including the proposed Paardevlei Solar Plant.
The success of the Paardevlei Switching Station project sets a benchmark for future delivery across Cape Town and reflected the innovation, professionalism and resilience of all teams involved.
Notably, the project will achieve long term savings for the City of Cape Town of approximately R8 million per year and enables grid connection points for Independent Power Producers (IPP), large power users, and the City’s own renewable energy projects, supporting the sustainability goals and the strategic Mayoral Priority Programme of becoming less reliant on Eskom.