Hon Chair, the Kakamas Hydroelectric Power Project is a run-of-river small hydropower project located adjacent to the Neusberg Weir on the Orange River near Kakamas in the Northern Cape province. The project is the first run-of-river hydropower station that uses the natural flow and drop in elevation of a river to produce electricity. It is located on the farm Swartbooisberg, approximately 12 km east of the town of Kakamas.
The project is developed under the country's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and will deliver 10 MW of baseload power into the South African energy market - enough electricity for about 5 000 households.
The Kakamas Hydroelectric Power, Khep, 10 MW Neusberg Electric Power Project is the first of three plants proposed for the Northern Cape province. These will be Riemvasmaak, near the Augrabies National Park, at Boegoeberg Dam and Orange Falls. The Kakamas Hydroelectric Power forms part of government's larger strategy to supply 17 800 MW of electricity through renewable energies by 2030, and to reduce greenhouse gases by 34% below the current level by 2020.
The Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, cofounded the project with Nedbank to the tune of R577 million, of which the IDC's contribution is R186 million. The IDC was instrumental in unblocking constraints pertaining to water use. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
