Release
Hydropower Africa has confirmed the attendance of South African Energy Minister Elizabeth Dipuo Peters at the event in Cape Town in September. The Minister will welcome delegates at the official networking reception of Africa’s largest hydropower event and exhibition, boasting over 600 visitors from across the globe. It will look at the current status and potential for hydropower development in Africa’s major basins as well as non-conventional methods in optimizing hydropower for Africa’s remote and rural areas.
Says Hydropower Africa’s Program Director Nicolaas Loretz: “we are very excited that our delegates, exhibitors and other experts will have the opportunity to meet the minister face-to-face as the announcement of successful bidders for South Africa’s renewable energy program will have been announced around the time of the event.”
Focus on finance, skills and technical aspects
The Hydropower Africa program will focus on organizing financial support and attracting investment for projects, optimizing the potential for hydropower by utilizing current infrastructure, i.e. water treatment plants, drinking or irrigation systems for micro hydro energy generation (20kW – 100kW) and explore models for diversified/distributed energy generation. According to Nicolaas Loretz, skills development and retention as well as best practices will be presented and discussed.
He continues: “We will also look at current projects, particularly pumped storage and major cross-border initiatives. New to the event is the technical track, looking at engineering and operational challenges, dam and hydro plant engineering as well as flow forecasting and measurement. Furthermore we have experts-lead site visits to various hydropower plants in the region.”
Hydropower is currently under-utilized in Africa
The global Italian generator giant MarelliMotori has been involved with the event for more than four years and is once again platinum sponsor. Says MarelliMotori’s Regional Manager for Africa, Dean Pratt: “global hydropower is a clean and cost effective form of power (once installed). I believe that hydropower is currently under-utilized in Africa. Perhaps the reason for this is lack of funding. However, with Africa being looked at as the next growth point from a global view point, the lack of reliable power will become an issue and challenge. Herein lays the opportunity to install clean and cost effective hydropower solutions. The hydropower market is a strategic growing segment for MarelliMotori with over 600 installed units worldwide.”
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