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Durban - A plan to generate enough hydro electricity to light up over 5 000 households in Durban was stumped because of increased water demand in Pietermaritzburg and the Midlands.
Durban’s hydro future now rests on the possibility of a R17bn dam being built on the uMkhomazi River near Richmond, to be known as Smithfield. This, however, might only be operational by 2023.
eThekwini is currently constructing the Western Aqueduct pipeline, the single largest water infrastructure project undertaken by the metro, with a bill in excess of R800m. It is still under construction. The plan was to build two 5MW hydro turbines on the pipeline. Space for the turbines was factored into the original planning at two break pressure reservoirs along the route.
Andrew Copley, the former manager for the metro on the project, said the pipeline engineers had made provision for two hydro stations.
“A transaction adviser was appointed to investigate the feasibility of the project, but the biggest problem was the lack of water supply. This idea was abandoned about 18 months ago because we could not guarantee the water supply to a potential operator,” said Copley.
He said the city’s water department was unable to finance the power generators due to legislative restrictions, and the city’s electricity department lacked the expertise, leaving them with the option of finding an independent power producer.
But Copley said while the hydro power idea was unlikely to be realised, the Western Aqueduct was designed to save the city power by using gravity rather than pump stations to get water to various corners of the metro.
Being completed in phases, the aqueduct would consist of 73km of welded pipeline. It would add a further capacity of 400 megalitres of water per day to the 1.1 million megalitres currently consumed per day by the city.
A former Eskom engineer, Peter Frow, whose Gillitts home overlooks the construction of the pipeline and who has developed a keen interest in the hydro concept, said the city should be proactive in looking for energy solutions while the country continues to experience load shedding.
“The two hydro propositions would each generate about 5MW. This is not a massive amount of power, but it is something,” said Frow.
He said the cost of implementing the hydro generators would be insignificant compared to the cost of constructing the pipeline.
“When the scheme was first conceptualised, it included provision for two hydroelectric installations, one at the Hillcrest reservoir and the other at the Wyebank reservoir. The department of water affairs is reluctant or unable to give minimum water flow guarantees, as this might well diminish due to increased water demand on Midmar (a source for the pipeline) by areas inland from Durban. This situation would only be reversed once a dam on the uMkhomazi River is constructed,” said Frow.
In correspondence obtained by The Witness (Fin24's sister publication) between Frow and a senior engineer in the city’s water department, the engineer admitted the hydro option was financially viable, but said the supply of water impacted on the “economics of the project”.
“The modelling was very sensitive to upstream development demand and the timing of the [completion of the] uMkhomazi Dam. Although the financial modelling showed that the project was very viable… the project was put on hold until there was more clarity on the risk factors,” said the official.
The eThekwini Municipality, Eskom and Durban Chamber of Commerce had not responded to questions on the matter by the time of going to press.
