What is the Tugela-Vaal scheme?

What is the Tugela-Vaal scheme?

One of the largest water transfer schemes in South Africa, the Tugela-Vaal, is situated here. This scheme provides valuable water to South Africa’s economic hub, Gauteng, through a series of dams, canals and pipelines.

What type of power station is found in the northern Drakensberg?

Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant
Drakensberg Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant SA is located at Northern Drakensberg mountains close to the town of Bergvillein, KwaZulu-Natal, SA. Location coordinates are: Latitude= -28.568542281847, Longitude= 29.082698822022. This infrastructure is of TYPE Hydro Power Plant with a design capacity of 1000 MWe.

What US a pumped storage scheme?

Pumped storage is the oldest kind of large-scale energy storage and works on a very simple principle – two reservoirs at different altitudes are required and when the water is released from the upper reservoir to the lower reservoir, energy is created by the downflow, which is directed through a turbine and generator …

Where is ingula power station situated?

Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme (Ingula PSS) is located 23km north-east of Van Reenen’s Pass on the border of Free State and KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. The facility will generate power for the national grid.

Which province is Tugela-Vaal?

KwaZulu-Natal
Tugela River

Is hydroelectric power generated at Sterkfontein dam?

The dam receives its water via the Tugela-Vaal Water Project later renamed the Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme which is a 1,000 MW pumped hydro storage scheme involving the net transfer of up to 630 million cubic metres (510,000 acre⋅ft) of water from KwaZulu-Natal.

What is the main benefit of a pumped storage scheme?

Pumped storage hydropower can provide energy-balancing, stability, storage capacity, and ancillary grid services such as network frequency control and reserves. This is due to the ability of pumped storage plants, like other hydroelectric plants, to respond to potentially large electrical load changes within seconds.

What is a peaking station?

Peaking power plants, also known as peaker plants, and occasionally just “peakers”, are power plants that generally run only when there is a high demand, known as peak demand, for electricity.

How many power stations are in South Africa?

Did you know there are currently over fifteen Eskom Power Stations that are meeting South Africa’s energy demands? Well, that is true, thanks to the huge reserves of coal that the country uses as its primary source of thermal energy. South Africa also taps hydroelectric, solar and nuclear energy to generate power.

What is the deepest dam in South Africa?

What is the Drakensberg pumped storage scheme?

The Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme is a multi-purpose project being undertaken jointly by the Electricity Supply Commission and the Department of Water Affairs. The Scheme involves three major underground excavations for the pumping and generating plant and associated waterways and access.

Where is Drakensberg located in South Africa?

/  28.57306°S 29.08694°E  / -28.57306; 29.08694 /  28.57306°S 29.08694°E  / -28.57306; 29.08694 The Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme is an energy storage facility built in the South African provinces of Free State and KwaZulu-Natal starting in 1974 and completed by 1981.

Is it possible to pump water into the Vaal for storage?

The predicted demand for water from the Vaal catchment would have made it necessary to duplicate this pumping scheme by 1980. However, as an alternative, studies were carried out into the possibility of developing a pumped storage station which could be used both for pumping water into the Vaal for water supply purposes and for storing electricity.

What are the underground excavations required for a hydro-electric scheme like Drakensberg?

The underground excavations required for a hydro-electric scheme such as the Drakensberg project have to be designed to satisfy a number of hydraulic, mechanical and electrical requirements.