South Africa & Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) To Construct 12,000MW HydroPower Station

The governments of South Africa and Lesotho have agreed about going forward with the 2nd phase of constructing a 12,000 MW capacity hydro power plant. The basic purpose of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project is to provide Lesotho with an income source in exchange for the provision of water to the central Gauteng province. This province is the prime industrial area where a majority of mining activity occurs in South Africa. The Vaal System is a very important water resource in SA. It supply's water to 60% of the country's economy & is also a source for state-owned utility Eskom's coal-fired power stations in Mpumalanga, the gold mines in North West province and the Free State. The project involves building of 165m high & 22 billion cubic metre capacity reservoir Polihali dam in the Mokhtlong district in Lesotho.

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Lesotho Natural Resources Minister Monyane Moleleki said in an interview in Maseru that the MoU to be signed between the two countries will not only focus on hydropower, but will see both countries look at projects on renewable energy, including solar and wind.

Below is an overview of the main features of the first three phases of the project.

	Phase IA	Phase IB	Phase II	Phase III
Name	Katse Dam	Mohale Dam	Mashai Dam	Tsoelike Dam
Dam height (m)	155	153	182	155
Power generation* (MW)(installed capacity)	110	N/A	166	N/A
Water transfer capacity* (m³/s)	16.9	10.1	28.0	8.6
Transfer tunnels	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

It is estimated that this hydropower plant is to soon begin construction and would start functioning in 2018.  It would provide for about 200 MW power supply to Lesotho & the rest will be transmitted to South Africa. This agreement for implementation of the projects would be mutually beneficial & lead to socio economic development & infrastructure building like access roads to the project sites and camps, as well as power transmission lines and administrations centers,of both countries.