Development of a Pico Hydropower Unit (PHU) for installation in water distribution networks: Case study of City of Tshwane

摘要

South Africa as a developing country needs sustainable and alternative solutions for electricity generation, due to the ever-growing demand for electricity combined with large portions of our population not having access to electricity. Eskom, as the state owned energy producer, have in recent years resorted to loadshedding to manage electricity demand as it was unable to satisfy the national demand. The problem is compounded by vandalism of electricity infrastructure as well as cable theft. This created problems for the water industry as loss of electricity also resulted in loss of control of the water distribution infrastructure at certain sites. Hydropower as an alternative to conventional methods of electricity generation may be an ideal vehicle to reach the goals of sustainable electricity generation as well as removing the water sectors reliance on mainly coal-driven national electricity generation. Table 1 shows how hydropower is classified in South Africa.