Small hydro |
Hydropower dilemmas: balancing energy development and indigenous concerns
As Ghana explores small hydropower solutions to meet rising energy demands, a new study highlights the potential of the Pumpum River Basin for renewable energy. Yet, challenges remain for sustainable implementation. In contrast, Norway faces a different dilemman –indigenous Sámi reindeer herders increasingly oppose such projects on their ancestral lands. These contrasting cases show the complex socio-ecological balance required for hydropower development across different regions
Below: Kintampo Falls in Ghana. New research suggests that small hydropower developments may be able to help meet future energy demand
COMPLETED IN 1965, THE Akosombo hydropower project was Ghana’s first to be constructed. Since then, according to new research led by Bright Agyemang-Boakye, the country has taken a somewhat slow pace in terms of exploring and expanding its hydropower potential, leading to an unstable power supply. Unless practical steps are made towards expanding the energy system to satisfy continuously rising demand, the projected energy coverage target of increasing from 20-80% between 2018 and 2030, will always “remain a myth”. And with the majority of the underserved population located in rural and peri-urban areas, it is anticipated that instead of larger
hydroelectric facilities, “modest” ones may be able to accommodate such energy needs With the above in mind, Agyemang-Boakye’s study
team from Ghana focused on identifying potential locations for the development of small hydropower systems on the Pumpum River Basin (PRB). Their work looked at the prospects and challenges for hydropower in Ghana, considering the Kintampo waterfalls which lies on the Pumpum River, an arm of the Black Volta. Kintampo Waterfalls is one of the highest waterfalls in the Bono East Region of Ghana, concealed in the forest and measuring about 70m following multiple
14 | October 2024 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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