Hydropower experts and operators to meet in Windhoek for major international conference
As if on cue, the Kunene River jumped by more than 150 cubic metres per second earlier this month, and a fortnight later, a UK publisher announces a major international hydropower conference in Windhoek with a view to attract around 650 delegates from at least 50 countries.
Named “Africa 2019. Water Storage and Hydropower Development for Africa”, the conference is organised by the publisher of the International Journal on Hydropower & Dams, Aqua~Media International. Their water journal is circulated to 180 countries.
A director of the publishing house, Mr Alison Bartle, said “After our previous successful African regional events in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2013, and Marrakech, Morocco in 2017, we are delighted to be bringing this multidisciplinary forum to southern Africa, where so many large-scale schemes are under way or moving ahead, for example in Angola, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.”
“Namibia is an ideal base for AFRICA 2019, with the Neckartal dam recently completed, and the 400 MW Baynes project being jointly planned with Angola,” he continued.
The three-day conference, scheduled from 02 to 04 April, will discuss water resources and hydroelectric power development. It will be preceded by training workshops and seminars.
The conference is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, NamWater and NamPower.
Registration starts on Monday 01 April, a day before the actual conference.
Organising and hosting are done in partnership with the International Commission on Large Dams. It has the support of the African Union, UNECA, NEPAD, SAPP, the International Energy Agency and the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage. Teams from the World Bank, the IFC and the African Development Bank will be participating.
International delegates will have the opportunity to take a three-day tour to Oanob, Hardap, Neckartal and Naute, and after the conference, a study tour to Ruacana with a visit to Etosha is planned.
Some 40 Namibian and international organisations have already confirmed their participation in an industry exhibition for the duration of the conference.
An extensive brochure in PDF is available at https://www.hydropower-dams.com/africa-2019/
