South Africa’s DWS opens applications for Hydropower Generation

South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has called for independent power producers to apply for water use authorizations to utilize water resources, water courses and infrastructure to generate hydropower to supplement the current electricity availability in the grid.

The DWS has initiated the DWS Hydropower Independent Producer Programme (DWS HIPP) in an effort to allow for the available infrastructure and water courses to be used to contribute to the power grid with renewable energy.

The decision has come after the Government approved for multipronged interventions to address the current energy crisis which has led to load shedding across the country in order to manage the available energy.

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 these, applications for floating solar panels can also be made.

A window for applications will be opens today 17 April 2023 for interested parties to submit pre-applications for water use authorizations.