The opportunity for investment and development of hydropower projects in Africa was vast, with only 7% of Africa’s hydropower potential having been exploited, so far, International Hydro Association (IHA) vice-president Dr Terry Moss said on Friday.

South Africa had about 1% of installed hydropower capacity if one looked at hydro reservoirs only, and only about 5% if pumped-storage projects were included, compared with the global percentage of just under 20%.

China had developed about 65% of clean-development mechanism hydropower projects, while India had developed about 10% of these projects. Most countries in Africa had developed less than 1% of these projects.

Speaking on the second day of the Action for Energy conference, in Johannesburg, Moss noted that the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC's) Inga 3 project, which would form part of the Western Corridor (Westcor) power project, would provide “quite a bit” of power for South Africa.

Inga 3 would have an output of 3 500 MW, while the 10 000 MW Westcor project could potentially displace Eskom’s base-load coal capacity, said Moss.

He also highlighted that the Grand Inga project would add 40 000 MW of electricity capacity in Africa.

Meanwhile, Moss noted that apart from the Ingula pumped-storage project and the proposed Tubatse pumped-storage projects in South Africa, there was no further potential for hydropower projects that could be developed in the country, given that the country was a water-sparse country.

Most of the country’s hydropower supply would have to come from the developments being made by Westcor.