
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is an ongoing water supply project with a hydropower component, developed in partnership between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa. It comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels throughout Lesotho and delivers water to the Vaal River System in South Africa. In Lesotho, it involves the river. . Efforts to create a dam in the location were spearheaded by then Sir in the 1950s, after initially being conceived by the South African civil engineer Ninham Shand while carrying ou. . Phase of the project comprises all the essential components to impound water in the , generate electricity and deliver water to the . Phase I has been carefully configured so that Katse Dam r. . • In 2005, an agreement between the Governments of South Africa and Lesotho was signed to proceed with feasibility studies;• In 2006, the feasibility study was commenced and completed in late 2008;. [pdf]
Lesotho is well endowed with enormous economically exploitable and viable hydro potential estimated at 450 MW for conventional hydropower systems and more than 3000 MW of pumped storage schemes . However, as shown in Fig. 1, only 75.25 MW of the hydroelectric potential has been harnessed so far.
It comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels throughout Lesotho and delivers water to the Vaal River System in South Africa. In Lesotho, it involves the rivers Malibamatso, Matsoku, Senqunyane, and Senqu. It is Africa's largest water transfer scheme.
Lesotho’s energy balance islargely dominated by combustible renewable resources. However, the country is well endowed with hydropower resources for the development of both large and small-scale hydropower projects. There are several challenges that have to be addressed in order to reap the full benefits of this resource.
Ntsoli Maiketso, LHDA’s Divisional Manager, Phase II, adds: “The Oxbow hydropower scheme increases security of power for Lesotho and will reduce the country’s dependence on electricity imports.
With daily average solar radiation varying from 5.5 to 7.2 kWh/m 2 and about 3200–4000 sunshine hours per year, Lesotho’s theoretical solar power reception isabout 4500 Terawatt-hours per year(TW h/yr). However, the state of technology with regard to solar PV is limited by the wattage it can provide within reasonable costs.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor is a consortium comprising Salini Impregilo and Cooperativa Muratori Cementistri (CMC di Ravenna), both from Italy, CMI Infrastructure Company of South Africa and LSP Construction of Lesotho. Completion of phase 2 is expected in 2028.

A microgrid is an electric system that can disconnect and operate independently from the utility grid, a capability known as “islanding.” Microgrids are typically powered by renewable energy or diesel generation and paired with battery energy storage. Community microgrids are specifically intended to support critical. . CMEP has roots in the 2018 state law SB 1339, which directed the CPUC to reduce barriers for commercial microgrid development by. . Resiliency has been a Hot Topic in wildfire-prone California for several years, yet community microgrids have been very slow to materialize across the state. PG&E and its fellow California. . 2019 was a wake-up call. Industry stakeholders agreed that PG&E needed improved energy safety and security measures to protect. [pdf]
If your community needs critical facility energy resilience for extreme weather, Public Safety Power Shutoff events, or other events, PG&E’s Community Microgrid Enablement Program can help.
The Community Microgrid Initiative is designed to achieve Community Microgrid demonstration projects that prove that local renewables connected to the distribution grid can provide at least 25% of the total electric energy consumed while maintaining grid reliability and power quality.
Deploying a true Community Microgrid requires utility cooperation, which has been slow to come. The Redwood Coast Airport Microgrid (RCAM), being staged in Northern California in partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), provides an example of the what can be done with utility cooperation.
For a Community Microgrid Initiative to be successful, all key community stakeholders must be aligned. These key stakeholders include property owners, residents, philanthropic funders, financiers, solution providers, utilities, policymakers, and municipalities.
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