Water and hydropower are always key topics and discussion points at the annual African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa in Cape Town, which has been moved from 12-14 May 2020 to 24-26 November 2020 due to the Coronavirus. The conference will bring together experts from public and private sectors, project developers, investors and technology providers.
The 3-day water conference will focus on “Shaping a Water Secure Future: Meeting our Universal Water Sustainable Development Goals”.
But it is the current excitement about small scale hydro in the renewable generation sector that has also led to the event organisers putting together an entire day dedicated to its potential, current success stories, innovations, advances in hydro-powered mini-grids and a very practical guide to developing a small hydro plant.
Says Theresa Smith: “Why devote an entire day to small scale hydro? Setting up a small scale hydro-powered plant is not an exercise predicated on creating massive engineering projects, which are prone to budget and time overruns and they are mostly considered as low risk in terms of technology failures. These particular projects are backed by private finance, this is where the quick wins exist.”
Speakers, moderators and panelists on the Small Scale Hydro Day programme will include:
- Anton-Louis Olivier, MD, REH Group, Board Member for Africa of the International Hydropower Association and award-winning project developerWim
- Jonker Klunne, renewable expert, hydropower pioneer and founder of Hydro4Africa will chair the Small Scale Hydro Day:
- Sebastian Surie, Regional Head Africa, Climate Fund Managers, South Africa:
- Carole Rosenlund, Head of Africa at the International Centre for Hydropower, Norway:
- Andy Eaton, Head of Sales Africa, Latin America & Oceania for Gilkes Hydro:
- Bo Barta, researcher and promoter of small scale hydropower:
Read the full interviews with these expert speakers on the event website here: https://www.african-utility-week.com/expert-interviews/
