Hydropower
Going high for green energy...the pipeline is erected by a topnotch team!
generate total green energy – but
also can earn “Renewable Energy
Certificates”, also known as
“Green Tags”. These certificates
can be traded or used to convert
carbon energy used into green
energy – this can be a great
advantage if you export products
like fruit or wine to other countries.
There are numerous hydropower
sites in the Western Cape with
good potential to be developed.
Most of these are either on private
land or on land managed by
Cape Nature. For a mini project
(between 1 and 5 MWatt) you
will need to do an Environmental
Impact Assessment, as well as
specialist studies as you will
be working in natural streams
and most possibly in Fynbos
Design, Build, Commission, Maintain
All Water Purification Systems
Purification of water from sources namely:
Rivers
Dams
Boreholes
Municipal Outlets
Application specific solutions to various
problems such as:
Iron & Manganese (Fe & Mn)
Bacteria & Viruses
Low Alkalinity (Aggressive water)
Brackish water (NaCl—Salt)
Odour & Taste
Water treated for the following uses:
Agricultural
Potable water
Irrigation
Industrial
De-mineralized water
Process feed water
Waste water recycling
[email protected]
021 851 2451
www.wps.co.za
areas. Luckily the development
of hydropower has a very small
footprint for the energy generated
because of the high density of
water. Water is 1000 times denser
than air and therefore the footprint
is 1000 times smaller for the same
energy generated by wind.
L’Ormarins’ hydropower
In the Western Cape there are
ample opportunities to generate
hydropower. I&F Engineering
have completed the 2.3 MWatt
Hydropower plant at L’Ormarins.
Beautiful L’Ormarins is the main
estate in the Anthonij Rupert
Wyne portfolio, situated in the
Franschhoek area. The farm has
a combination of both low-lying
land and moderate-to-steep
slopes. There is an altitude
difference of 385m between the
lowest (165m) and the highest
(580m) points on the farm.
The
L’Ormarins
hydropower
project is built mainly on Cape
Nature land with a 450mm
pipeline winding down the
Hottentots Holland Mountains
toward L’Ormarins.
Situated on the the farm – on
a specific elevation - is the
turbine building with two Pelton
turbines in parallel receiving from
35 to 700 l/s water at a head
of about 300 m. These turbines
combined can generate from
100 kW up to 2000 kW and
start up automatically when the
level at the small weir rises to the
predetermined level. After the
water is released, with no power, it
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SABI | APRIL / MAY 2017
flows to a dam (which operates as
an energy bank) where the water
can either be used to irrigate by
means of gravity, or to fill all the
dams on the farm. Alternatively
it can be sent back to the stream
after generating electrical power
again at the lower (87m) head
Cross Flow turbine ranging from
30kW to 325kW. The efficiencies
of these turbines range from 86%
to 90% depending on the flow.
Scope
I&F Engineering are busy
working on further hydropower
projects in the area. These
include hydropower projects at
Porterville (1 MWatt); Franschhoek
(3.6 MWatt); Du Toitskloof (1.5
MWatt) and numerous smaller
plants ranging from 5–350kW on
various farms.
Notably,
many
opportunities
awaiting development exist in
the eastern parts of South Africa.
The eastern areas of South Africa
have many older hydros which
were developed from 1920
onwards but abandoned when
the Eskom national grid made
things much simpler.
Hydropower is again blooming
and is just in the beginning of
its cycle and there is huge scope
for
development
and
upgrading of hydropower plants.
Ian de Jager is the CEO of I&F
Engineering and the Western
Cape chairman of SABI,
[email protected].