| Africa


The dam is being erected by Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Vinci Construction Terrassement Grands Projets. It will feature a 108m high reservoir with a capacity of 4 billion m3


, and once complete


will irrigate 90,000 hectares of agricultural land downstream. Preparatory works for the project were


launched in late September 2022, paving the way for four years of construction work. The preservation of biodiversity is an absolute priority on this worksite, said Vinci. Measures include preserving the habitat of chimpanzees as well as the Niokolo-Koba National Park, one of the last sanctuaries for wild animals in West Africa. Local low-carbon materials will also be used for hardwall buildings in the site’s life base. This site will mobilise nearly 1200 people at peak activity.


Sierra Leone


Late last year saw blockchain company Bitgreen announce a partnership with green infrastructure developer Sewa Energy Resources (SERL) and international climate action platform Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) to finance the Betmai Hydroelectric Facility in Sierra Leone. The partnership will fund construction of the 27MW run-of-the-river hydropower project, bringing affordable, renewable electricity to an equivalent of 500,000 households through clean energy generated by the Pampana River. Sierra Leone is among the countries with the lowest electricity access in the world, with only an estimated 26% of its 8 million population having access to electricity. Impoverished citizens and those in rural areas are the most impacted , with power access in these groups ranging from 3-5 percent. These access shortfalls cause an over-reliance on heavily polluting imported fossil fuels to provide energy.


Betmai Hydroelectric Facility represents an essential step toward empowering Sierra Leonean citizens and industries with consistent access to renewable electricity. “The Betmai Hydroelectric Facility is a transformative project that will immediately benefit communities and companies across Sierra Leone,” said Adam Carver, Bitgreen CEO. “We are thrilled that our project partners see the capabilities of our platform to connect impact investors with key initiatives and climate disruptors at all levels of reach and impact to foster thoughtful and visionary change.” As Sierra Leone’s largest clean-energy developer, SERL brings 17 years of experience to developing the Betmai project and its infrastructure. SERL is a wholly independent, indigenous-owned developer focused on constructing, financing, and operating renewable energy projects across Sierra Leone and West Africa.


“Sierra Leone is an incredibly unique country with communities that deserve access to energy,” said Kofie Macauley, Founder and CEO of SERL. “As the lead developer for Betmai, I am confident that myself and the project partners will enable people and companies to improve their lives and businesses through ecologically- focused development.” GEAPP operates in working partnerships


across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean to operationalize renewable energy transition and expansion. Established in 2021 by the Rockefeller Foundation in collaboration with the Bezos Earth Fund and IKEA Foundation, the Alliance’s primary objectives are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, extend clean power to underserved people, and enable green jobs. As a key funding partner alongside SERL, the Alliance bolsters Bitgreen’s blockchain fundraising efforts to foster impactful, ground- level ecological and humanitarian change in Sierra Leone.


“As partners on the Betmai project, we are


Muvumba River valley in Rwanda. Construction of the multipurpose


project will provide water for domestic and agricultural purposes


thrilled to continue our mission in bringing clean and environmentally sound energy to vulnerable and underserved communities,” said Joseph Nganga, Vice President for Africa - Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP). “Empowering disenfranchised people through access to easily available renewable energy is a key part of our operations and how we choose which partners to collaborate with.”


Tanzania


Proposed construction of the 87.8MW Kakono hydropower project will address electricity deficits in north-western Tanzania, displacing the use of fossil fuels where costly diesel power generators are often brought online to supplement the grid supply and avoid prolonged blackouts and brownouts. Set to be situated downstream of the Rusumo, Murongo/Kikagati and Nsongezi projects along the Kagera River, the 321MW project will compromise a 42m high and 1380m long concrete-faced rockfill dam, and a 61m high and 284m long gravity roller-compacted concrete dam. Hydropower potential will be exploited through an outdoor powerhouse at the toe of the dam. The dam will create a small reservoir with a live storage volume of 90 million m3


allowing the


option of daily or weekly regulation of the river flow when necessary. It will normally operate as a run-of-river facility producing about 524GWh annually and energy will be transported through a 38.5km long, 220kV transmission line to the existing substation at Kyaka. Since the Kakono hydropower plant will


feed directly into the transmission network that will eventually interconnect the main grids of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda by 2030, the project will play a significant role in cross-border power trade amongst these countries. Plans are also underway for the development of the Kikonge Multipurpose Hydropower and Irrigation Project in Tanzania. The 321MW dam will have average energy production of 1138GWh/year, from an average design flow/ discharge of 320m3 capacity of 2535Mm3


/sec, and reservoir storage .


The scheme will help to regulate flow of the Ruhuhu river, irrigate 3811 ha of agricultural land and 582 hectares of grazing, with the potential to supply water to communities downstream and within the vicinity of the dam. A 96km long, 220 kV transmission line from the switchyard to Madaba substation will connect to national electricity grid. Once constructed over four million people will benefit from the project’s power, over 10,000 farmers will benefit from the irrigation scheme and an additional 100,000 people will bene fit from water supply and fisheries from storage reservoir. It is envisioned that over 10,000 job opportunities will be created through the project. ●


www.waterpowermagazine.com | March 2023 | 15


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