By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is preparing to open applications for independent power producers (IPPs) to apply for water use authorisations to use its water resources, water courses and infrastructure, to generate hydropower as an alternative energy to supplement the current electricity available in the grid.
Applications will open on April 17 for interested parties to submit preapplications for water use authorisations for hydropower technologies such as impoundment; river diversion or run-of-river; pumped storage and floating or kinetic turbines (small scale generating capacity), as well as floating solar panels.
The department has initiated the DWS Hydropower Independent Producer Programme (DWS HIPP) in an effort to allow for the available water infrastructure and water courses, including rivers and dams, to be used to contribute to the power grid with renewable energy.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the department said government has approved multipronged interventions to address the current energy crisis which has led to loadshedding across the country in order to manage the available energy.
“One of the key objectives of the government’s Energy Action Plan was to remove barriers to new generation capacity and unlocking energy from many different sources, including independent power producers in order to add as much energy as possible to the grid. Linked to this objective is an intervention aimed at enabling and accelerating private investment in generation capacity.
“The department is inviting persons to make use of the water resources, watercourses and its infrastructure to generate renewable energy power. The types of hydropower technologies to apply for include impoundment; river diversion or run-of-river; pumped storage and floating or kinetic turbines (small scale generating capacity). In addition to the above, applications for floating solar panels can also be made,” the department said.
The department said a hybrid briefing session, where interested applicants will be taken through the programme and application processes, will be held on 11 April 2023 at Protea Hotel OR Tambo in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The session will start at 10am.
Enquiries regarding the programme should be directed to Advocate Sipho Skosana at Skosanam@dws.gov.za or 082 808 5947, or Mr Tsunduka Khosa at khosat@dws.gov.za/ or 082 940 7295.