From Water Supplier To Power Exporter: Lesotho’s Energy Ambition

“I had a bilateral meeting with the [South African] Minister of Electricity this morning,” Mpotjoane informed. Pitching it as a potential win-win project, Mpotjoane highlights South Africa’s high baseload demand, “which they generate from several sources… hydropower could become a key source in their mix.”

Lesotho is the only nation in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 meters in elevation. Its high-altitude geography and high rainfall have long made it one of the region’s most valuable water catchment areas. Under the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) Treaty, established in 1986, it is the main water feeder source for South Africa’s economic heartland, the Gauteng Province.