World’s largest man-made dam weighs using floating solar panels
The authorities in charge of the world’s largest man-made lake are considering using floating solar panels to generate power after plummeting water levels deepened power outages in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Adding photovoltaic capacity to the surface of the Kariba Dam the water would supplement the more than 2 100 MW of hydropower capacity, Munyaradzi Munodawafa, chief executive officer of the Zambezi River Authority, which manages the dam, said in an interview. A similar proposal is being considered for the nearby Batoka Gorge, where another hydro project is being developed, he said.
“There are lots of areas that can provide that solar,” Munodawafa said.
Interest in floating solar panels has increased in recent years, according to the International Energy Agency. The installations avoid competing for land, boost yields because of the cooling effect of water, and have the potential to reduce the evaporation of water bodies. Large-scale projects have been planned for reservoirs in India and Singapore.
A prolonged drought has cut output at Kariba and resulted in Zambia and Zimbabwe’s state power utilities being unable to meet electricity demand. Overuse of the dam compounded the problem at the start of the year, when reservoir levels fell to less than 1% of usable storage. While inflows have been picking up since January, the station is also susceptible to the effects of climate change.
Rainfall patterns have become a concern, evidenced by the lack of inflows to the dam from the Gwayi River in Zimbabwe, Munodawafa said.
“Right now everyone sees a lot of rain, but on the ground the lower catchment that was supposed to give us more water did not,” he said. “That’s climate change.”
The Zambian and Zimbabwean utilities have yet to make a decision on the use of the floating solar panels and determine how much such a project would cost, Munodawafa said.
Comments
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Klüber Lubrication ensures that the world’s essential systems—drive units, machines, and water flow—operate efficiently, sustainably, and reliably...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Yale Lifting Solutions is a leading supplier of lifting and material handling equipment in Southern Africa. Yale offers a wide range of quality...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
