The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is calling for Independent Power Producers
to apply for water use authorisations to utilise its water resources, water courses and
infrastructure such as rivers and dams, to generate hydropower as an alternative energy to
supplement the current electricity available in the grid.
The DWS has initiated the DWS Hydropower Independent Producer Programme (DWS HIPP)
in an effort to allow for the available infrastructure and water courses to be used to contribute
to the power grid with renewable energy.
The Department will hold a hybrid briefing session on Tuesday 11, April 2023, 10h00 at
Protea Hotel OR Tambo in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, where interested applicants will be
taken through the programme and application processes.
Government has approved for multipronged interventions to address the current energy crisis
which has led to loadshedding across the country in order to manage the available energy.
One of the key objectives of the government’s Energy Action Plan was to remove barriers to
new generation capacity and unlocking energy from many different sources, including
independent power producers in order to add as much energy as possible to the grid.
Linked to this objective is an intervention aimed at enabling and accelerating private
investment in generation capacity.
The Department is inviting persons to make use of the water resources, watercourses and its
infrastructure to generate renewable energy power. The types of hydropower technologies to
apply for include Impoundment; river diversion or run-of-river; pumped storage and floating or
kinetic turbines (small scale generating capacity). In addition to the above, applications for
floating solar panels can also be made.
A window for applications will be opened on 17 April 2023 for interested parties to submit preapplications for water use authorisations.
Information on the application process is accessible in the Electronic Water Use Licence and
Application and Authorisation System (E-WULAAS) on: DWS: E-WULAAS - Documents on the
department website homepage.
