The Badplaas Hydro Refurbishment Pilot project was initiated in 2009 and has become operational in 2013. Although it is a small project (153 KW), it was significant in a number of ways:
Since greenfield hydro projects often take more than 5 years from the point of initiation up to the point of financial close (start of construction) – the main purpose of this project was to execute this very small projecting order to showcase it as a working example.
The project entailed refurbishment, clearing all electricity and environmental regulatory aspects and structuring a corporate power purchase agreement.
A 1954 Gilkes turbine was refurbished and is now again in operation almost 70 years after installation.
