- The projects will involve the augmentation of energy supplies and will be undertaken under a 20-year operational period.
- Instead of dams being constructed for water supply, existing water bodies used for other purposes can be fitted with floating solar PV and wind power plants.
South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has launched an expression of interest (EOI) for independent power producers (IPPs) to build, own and operate renewable power generation plants at select works and associated infrastructure in the southern African country. The projects will involve the augmentation of energy supplies and will be undertaken under a 20-year operational period.
The EOI has identified dams, water pumping stations and other tentative locations across 19 sites throughout the country where the DWS intends to develop solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and hydropower to reduce increasing energy costs and diminish its reliance on the country’s energy grid.
“South Africa has a potential to develop renewable energy at existing DWS infrastructure such as dams, barrages, weirs, irrigation systems (canals and conduits) as well as run-off river schemes,” the DWS stated, adding, “Instead of dams being constructed for water supply, existing dams’ water bodies that are used for other purposes can be fitted with floating solar PV and wind power plants and conduit pipes that can be fitted with turbines to augment the electricity supply on-site.”
Source: Energy Capital & Power