15 June 2015 - The joint 7th International Conference on Hydropower and the 83rd ICOLD Annual Meeting and 25th Conference is being held in Stavanger, Norway from 15 – 20 June 2015.

Aurecon renewable energy expert, Paul Nel, will be presenting a paper on innovative hydropower and dam projects in emerging economies at the conference.

“I will be discussing the design considerations of building the Stortemelk Hydropower Station in South Africa specifically. The Stortemelk hydropower station consists of a single 4.4 MW vertical Kaplan turbine to be installed at the Botterkloof Dam on the Ash River in the Free State province of South Africa,” says Nel.

Aurecon has been involved in the Stortemelk Hydropower project since the feasibility stage and the company was appointed to provide engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the implementation of the project in 2014. The project has been developed by NuPlanet (a member of the REH group), which was also appointed to manage the project under a Management Service Agreement. 

“Some of the interesting challenges were related to the legal aspects of generating renewable energy within South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP). I will be discussing these challenges as well as other technical challenges such as the underlying geology, space constraints and the high water table in the area,” says Nel.

Aurecon provides engineering, management and consulting services for hydro projects and the company understands the private project development process in complex and highly regulated environments. Aurecon looks forward to sharing the experienced it has gained by being involved in hydro power projects in emerging regions.