The World Bank has rated Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and\nMozambique\u2019s labour pool in hydropower as most qualified on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a new report <\/a>on operation and maintenance strategies for hydropower, the Bank gives special attention to the four African nations for their home-grown proficient skillset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCountries such as Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mozambique,\nand Pakistan have developed the necessary education and skills and created\nlocal workforces with experience in hydropower O&M (operation and\nmaintenance) that are trained and ready to be hired by an owner,\nconcessionaire, or operator,\u201d said the World Bank in the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe level of hydropower development, as well as the ability to develop robust curriculums on hydropower, are key determinants in the availability of skilled O&M staff on the local labor market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report points out that the success of sustainable\nhydropower operation and maintenance for a company with a fleet of hydro\nstations depends on the quality of its employees (skills, knowledge, and\nexperience) and how well they are selected, trained, and managed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The World Bank cites Kenya\u2019s largest power producer KenGen as\na case study in the report, examining its organisational structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKenGen\u2014the publicly traded owner of most of Kenya\u2019s power\ngeneration\u2014has, for example, adopted a typical O&M organisational structure\nfor public sector multi-facility managers,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis structure can also be used for managing the O&M\nfunctions of multiple plants located near one another, such as facilities in a\ncascade on a river system. There\u2019s centralisation of many corporate functions\nthat support hydropower O&M activities, such as human resource\nadministration, finance, procurement, legal, regulatory, ICT, security, and\ntransportation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n KenGen operates a fleet of hydropower stations with an\ninstalled capacity of 818MW, including the Seven Forks cascade on Tana River\ncomprising a chain of hydropower stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nInternational Hydropower Association (IHA), which contributed to the report,\nranks Kenya 14th\nlargest hydropower producer in Africa. Ethiopia is the top hydropower producer\non the continent with an installed capacity of 3,822 MW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second\nis South Africa (3,595 MW), followed by Egypt (2,844 MW), DR Congo (2,593 MW)\nwhile Angola is fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, Africa\u2019s existing hydropower plants can deliver 36GW\n(36,000MW) of installed generation capacity, according to IHA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At\n36GW, Africa\u2019s share of hydropower represents 2.8 percent of the world\u2019s total hydro\ncapacity of 1,290 GW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Majority hydroelectric plants in Africa are impoundment projects with dams to store\nriver water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a\nturbine, spinning it, which in turn activates a generator to produce\nelectricity. The rest are run-of-river plants also known as diversion\nfacilities where a section of a\nriver is channeled through a canal or penstock in the absence of a dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hydropower is currently the largest renewable energy source,\naccounting for 62 percent of the world\u2019s renewable energy generation, ahead of\nwind (21 percent) and solar photovoltaic (seven percent), according to the\nWorld Bank report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHydropower is recognised for providing a wide range of\ngrid-support services, such as energy storage, climate adaption, load\nfollowing, and system inertia. It is also a low-cost and sustainable source of\nenergy. The ability to dispatch hydro generation when needed and its\nflexibility of operation mean that it can facilitate grid integration of\nintermittent wind and solar generation and other non-dispatchable generation, through\nbalancing services,\u201d says the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A key distinguishing feature of hydropower is its potential\nlongevity. A hydropower facility can operate for 100 years or more, compared\nwith 20\u201330 years for most other generation technologies. Nearly half of the\nworld\u2019s hydropower capacity is over 30 years old and many facilities are over\n100 years old. Proper operation and maintenance has a hand in a plant\u2019s\nlongevity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are many hydropower facilities that have operated\nsince the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most of these facilities have\nbeen modernised to some extent over the years, but much of the original civil\nworks and structures remain unchanged, and turbine scrolls, draft tubes, and\nother heavy equipment may still be in service. This exceptional longevity is\nunique to hydropower,\u201d the World Bank says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHowever, good O&M practices are critical to maintain\nthis longevity. Facilities that are continuously maintained in good condition\ncan operate for decades without major work, whereas plants that are allowed to\ndeteriorate require constant attention and frequent major refurbishment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The International\nHydropower Association (IHA) recently launched a sustainability fund to trigger\nhydropower project developers in Africa, Asia and Europe into sustainable\npractices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hydropower<\/em> Sustainability\nEnvironmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Assessment fund will award a $1 million (Sh100 million) grant to\nhydropower projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Successful recipients would be required to commission an independent project assessment using the hydropower Sustainability ESG Gap Analysis Tool<\/a> (HESG). The tool provides an action plan to help investors identify and address gaps, benchmarking against international good practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n