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Local engineers in breakthrough energy invention

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TWO Harare-based engineers have invented a simplified hydropower engine and pump for electricity generation.

TWO Harare-based engineers have invented a simplified hydropower engine and pump for electricity generation.

By Jeffrey Moyo

The simplified version of the dummy or  prototype of the new version of a hydropower plant invented by engineers Edmas Gozo and Jeremia Sundire displayed at a launch held in Harare recently
The simplified version of the dummy or prototype of the new version of a hydropower plant invented by engineers Edmas Gozo and Jeremia Sundire displayed at a launch held in Harare recently

According to the engineers, the invention does not need a lake, river or a dam to run unlike other common hydroelectric power plants.

The plants are run using water tanks mounted on tall buildings.

“Between water tanks, we set our turbines, which together with other internal systems, are powerfully set in motion by the water,” one of the inventors, Edmas Gozo, told NewsDay Weekender.

“Unlike in other common hydropower plants, the water is not wasted away, but keeps rotating in the systems of our new power model, as it infinitely generates electricity.”

Gozo, an electrical engineer by profession, and Jeremia Sundire, a water engineer, started working on the model in 2010 and emerged with the complete concept in 2013.

The engineers launched the invention in Harare on Tuesday, where demonstrations were held at an event attended by representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Power Development.

The inventors were now looking for investors to turn the project into a commercial venture, which the say can produce 300 megawatts of electricity.

“Three hundred megawatts of electricity is our average production, but we can produce more electricity using our invention depending on the demand. We will be able to produce energy not only for Zimbabwe, but for the whole of Sadc,” Gozo said.

But the engineers said this was only possible if investors supported the programme.

“We need investors to help us produce a prototype for exhibition at international energy expos. What you see here, although running as you can see, is a dummy of our actual concept,” Sundire said.

With the demand for green technologies on the rise, the engineers said their power invention was a source of clean energy.

“The energy we produce is clean, We are not burning anything. We are not polluting anything and, therefore, ours is green energy conversion,” Gozo said.

The invention is now registered with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) under application number PCT/AP2011/000003.

Zimbabwe is currently importing 300MW of electricity from South Africa and another 100MW from Mozambique to augment supplies.