Friday , February 7 2025

Rosatom signs small scale hydro facility contract in SA

Hungarian company, Ganz Engineering and Energetics Machinery (Ganz EEM) and its South African partner, energy solutions provider Blue World Power Energy and Resources recently signed a contract to supply hydro-electric equipment for the installation of a small scale hydro-electric power plant at Mpompomo Falls, near Barberton in Mpumalanga.

Alexander Merten, the President of Rusatom International Network (RIN), which is the acting as the project integrator said this was the first of many envisaged mini – hydro projects in the Sub-Saharan African region.

“This is our first contract with Blue World Power and Energy Services, with a scope to install a low-yield (under 1 Mw) hydro-electric power plant in South Africa. This is just the beginning of our envisaged large-scale cooperation program in the field of small-scale hydropower engineering in Central and South African countries,” said Merten.

Rosatom offer numerous energy solutions for African countries and one of the most promising is an innovative containerized mini-hydropower plant with a design capacity of up to 2 MW.

According to Merten a single facility is capable of providing electricity to between 250 and 400 houses.

In addition, the installation requires no dam construction and causes no environmental harm to river and other reservoir ecology.

“The compact container solution makes it possible to considerably reduce the commissioning time and cuts construction costs drastically.”

The developer further says facility’s warranty period is 12 years, while its operational lifetime is roughly 30 years, easily controlled and monitored remotely via satellite, mobile communications network or the Internet (with a mobile option available).

The technology of mini hydro-electric power plants integrates well with the existing power supply infrastructure of African countries, as it requires no additional network installation, and the estimated breakeven period for a plant with a design capacity of 1 MW and a capacity factor of 93%, is three years.

Gavin Carlson, Managing Director of Blue World Power Energy and Resources said the company is working on various potential projects on the African market.

“These mini – hydro units have become our focus, as they are capable of bringing power quickly and efficiently to rural communities in Africa. Rosatom and ourselves have made a commitment to powering Africa through innovative technologies, such as mini-hydro,” said Carlson.

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