In a groundbreaking event held at its headquarters on Wednesday, City Power marked significant milestones in its dedication to a sustainable energy future by announcing the winners of the 2025 Schools’ Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management (EEDSM) competition and launching the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the City of Johannesburg. The gathering united learners, educators, municipal officials, and energy professionals, all celebrating educational-driven climate action.
As City Power transforms into a fully-fledged energy company, it aims to champion a just and sustainable energy transition by fostering awareness, innovation, and environmental stewardship among high school learners through its schools competition.
CEO Tshifularo Mashava emphasised the company’s commitment to providing resources, mentorship, and platforms that allow the creativity of young innovators to flourish, a vision supported by the City of Johannesburg. “City Power is about keeping the lights on for our people and for the progress of society. The progress of society is guaranteed with the brilliant minds in this room,” Mashava said. “The submissions we received exceeded our expectations, and our responsibility is to nurture and support these young minds, ensuring their inspiration continues beyond this event.”
Sgodiphola Secondary School from Cosmo City emerged victorious, clinching R35,000 after presenting an innovative rotating solar panel that optimally charges by tracking the sun’s direction. “I am very happy and thankful to City Power for the opportunity that they’ve given us. I’m very proud to have won the first prize for our project,” expressed Mufunwa Ramuedi, one of the winners.
Ramuedi explained that her group chose a solar project due to frequent power outages in their densely populated area, known as Extension 6 in Cosmo City. “In our school, we suffer from constant load shedding, so if we could implement this system, it could help us continue our studies even when there’s no electricity,” she elaborated.
Another learner, Hlomani Mazibuko, shared his enthusiasm for the project as a step towards his ambition of studying computer systems engineering. “I’m looking forward to studying computer systems engineering—it’s a mix of computer science and electrical engineering. Our solar tracking panel system embodies that combination. There’s coding involved as well as the engineering aspects,” Mazibuko noted.
City Power underscored that its evolution into a fully-fledged energy company demands innovation and a new skill set. The competition was designed not only to showcase student talent but also to motivate learners to pursue future opportunities. Palma Maluleke, City Power’s Chief Engineer for solar and battery energy storage systems, stated, “This initiative was to encourage learners to be vigilant about opportunities that await them and to prepare for their career journeys. The engineers of tomorrow at City Power must emerge from this innovative environment.”