Siize Punabantu
For the African
continent to develop it has to take care of five basic fundamentals, in order
of priority these are:
2 Transportation: the routes and modes of transportation that will
strategically connect intra-African industry to exploit comparative advantage
3 Natural
Resources: electrical power and accessibility into the African interior
enabling the efficient exploitation of minerals
4 Industry: the manufacture of raw materials into finished goods, effective value
addition and efficient and cost effective distribution
5 Services: effective and efficient service delivery through commercial hubs
delivering public services and amenities, housing and accommodation, commercial
activity, banking, finance, education, leisure, tourism etc
We can think through the kind of bold ideas being described in the 5 prerequisites through the concept of a Africa Grand hydro-electric canal and try to envisage what proportions this kind of investment and approach might assume:
We can think through the kind of bold ideas being described in the 5 prerequisites through the concept of a Africa Grand hydro-electric canal and try to envisage what proportions this kind of investment and approach might assume:
An Example of an Existing Canal System[1]
The total length of the Grand Canal is 1,776 km (1,104 mi). Its greatest height is reached in the mountains of Shandong, at a summit of 42 m (138 ft). Ships in `Chinese canals did not have trouble reaching higher elevations after the pound lock was invented in the 10th century, during the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
Introducing a Africa Grand Hydro-electric Canal
The Africa Grand hydro-electric canal is conceptualised as a strategic African investment with which to position the African continent to strategically exploit all its natural advantages. The hydro-electric canal is conceptualized here to stretch from Port Elizabeth in South Africa to Egypt and in Morocco. However, though the primary purpose of the Chinese Grand Canal was transportation and trade the concept of an Africa grand canal will be different in the sense that the first and foremost the Canal envisioned must satisfy the five prerequisites for strategic industrial development of Africa. Therefore, the canal is primarily a hydro-electric powerplant or a giant power station sprawled across the African continent with taps initially supplying 1 million or more megawatts of electrical power. This will be achieved by harnessing the artificial inland and outward flow of seas and oceans and the natural elevation and valleys of the interior of the continent to provide enough energy for Africa’s present and future needs as well as for export.
The Africa Grand hydro-electric canal would be the largest project in history undertaken by African governments and would most likely become one of the most valuable and largest revenue generating ventures in the world that is able to boost the economies of African nations, setting up Africa to take over the mantle of one of the world’s largest emerging economies after China.
The Africa Grand Concept
The Africa Grand hydro-electric canal must also satisfy the second pre-requisite for the industrial development of Africa, namely, a revolutionary opening up of transport routes within Africa through which to create strategic industrial connectivity between African countries. The hydro-electric canal is envisaged as a commercial entity. It will be owned by the Africa Grand Corporation with 49% of its shares in the hands of African governments through existing and incoming port authorities and 51% of its shares publically traded. In other words the hydro-electric canal would become an extension of and be predominantly owned by new and existing ports and port authorities on the continent which are expected to manage their gateways into the African interior. The entire hydro-electric canal structure is envisaged to recoup the funds spent on its construction by the diverse range of commercial activity it supports; from the generation and distribution of hydro-electric power, traffic, the distribution of pipelines for treated water, oil, gas etc, the movement of cargo and people on its routes and the inland commercial and industrial activity it supports. It is envisaged to be a joint venture between African governments, new and existing ports and the private sector with commercial objectives as well as socio-economic benefits.
The differences between a Hydro-electric Dam and a Hydro-electric Canal
Dams are a common source of hydro-electric power. The construction of a hydro-electric dam often involves blocking the pathway or original course of a river to create a reservoir of water in which the electric energy is kinetically stored.
The volume of water stored by the dam is held back strategically by a dam wall. In this case the dam is 128m deep and creates an artificial lake that spans an area with a radius of 230km.
The disadvantage with dams is that they tend to disrupt the original course
of a river which may affect activities upstream. They may disrupt transport
along the river and the kinetically stored hydro-electric energy is limited to
the area in which the reservoir is located. A dam such as this is also not very
useful as a means of broad based transportation.
The hydro-electric canal will focus on exploiting gravity through drops where the weight of water turns turbines. Its primary goal is to use high elevation water reservoirs to store long term energy for use in electricity. These reservoirs are kept filled artificially and naturally for long term power supply. The high elevation dams will use electricity from high elevation pressure dams to move water from sea level to high elevations and once captured drops will be used to turn generators that efficiently convert the stored energy into electricity for onward distribution to Africa and abroad.
Strategic prerequisite 1: Power Generation
The Africa Grand hydro-electric canal will be designed to produce tremendous amounts of electricity strategically above and beyond the needs of the African continent with a practical objective. Firstly, as an emerging industrial giant ( a consequence of the Africa Grand) the continent will guarantee it is never faces a deficit of energy it needs to sustain its new and evolving industries anywhere on the continent, secondly for the income generated from being able to export excess power from the Africa Grand to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Demand for energy will continue to grow across the world and the Africa Grand is envisaged to be a major force in the supply of clean hydro-electric energy. The canal itself and its routes are built to move massive volumes of sea water through the 800 meters by 40 meters cavity of the canal and bring them in close proximity to elevation pumps which supply artificial high elevation reservoirs. The advantage is that this canal cavity supplies water for high elevation reservoirs as well as providing transport routes. The canal’s primary function is to then store this sea water as energy in high elevation artificial reservoirs and support a marine route into the African interior.
The source of electricity generation will be from water resources drawn in from and back into the oceans and seas. Consequently, the hydro-electric canal will persistently seek routes that take it near to higher elevations using a system of locks.
The purpose of the canal is to bring large volumes of ocean water inland reducing the distance between this water and higher elevations, then begin to raise it to these higher elevations using elevation pumps. The canal brings water near high elevations such as mountain tops. These mountain tops are carefully excavated to build high altitude hydro-electric pressure or gravity dams which act as long term “hydro-batteries” for storing electrical energy. From these dam pressure is used to generate electricity by running it through turbines, it then plunges into high altitude drops where turbines are placed in vertical gaps every 5 meters. Using this method a single head of water of 10 cubic meters (weighing 10 tonnes) falling at intervals of 5 meters could strike or turn as many as 80 turbines during its descent back down to sea level generating hydro electric energy for the Grand Canal and its international grid. The higher the drop, the greater the number of turbines that can be harnessed and therefore the greater the volume of electricity that can be generated. A hydro-electric canal such as this seeks to exploit the long term storage capacity of electrical energy in high elevation reservoirs supplied with sea water by the canal. Each high elevation cavity that is excavated into strategic high elevation dams should be able to store at least two to three years worth of electrical energy and take only one year to fill from the canal system using fast high volume water pumps should rainfall levels prove inadequate to sustain some high elevation dams.
Its purpose is to exploit two main types of energy for the generation of electricity. The first is water pressure created by water collected in high elevation reservoir hydro-electric dams. The second is over-run or the energy created by moving water falling from higher to lower elevations referred to as “drops”.
Cost of electricity
Using this method the cost of electricity generated by the hydro-electric canal must include the cost of storing electrical energy in high elevation reservoirs. On average a reservoir should be able to be completely filled, using high volume electrical pumps alone exploiting pressure dams and still be profitable. The energy spent by the pumps is stored in the reservoirs. It is then released to generate electricity through the high elevation dams and the drops. The gravity or pressure dam produces the electricity that powers the pumps that move water from lower levels or sea level into the high elevation reservoir dam. This creates a perpetual movement of water that keeps the high elevation reservoir or “battery” where this energy is stored perpetually filled with water that has been brought into close proximity using the canal system. The drop turbines harvest electricity from water plunging back to sea level pulled by gravity. Drop turbines are placed every 5 meters to allow the head of falling water to gain momentum before striking the next lower drop turbine.
The concept behind the hydro-electric canal is that storing kinetic energy
in a dam or reservoir is no different from storing energy in an alkaline or
acid battery for current or future use. Bearing in mind it becomes a passible
strategy for the canal to exploit its use in transportation as a means of
constantly moving water to higher elevation reservoirs as a method of storing
power for current or future use through hydro-electric drops. This energy is
artificially stored using the lowest cost methods available. These methods
include:
The objective of this system is for it to initially be designed to be able
to in initially store and supply at least 1
million megawatts of renewable electricity not only for the African
countries, but to export this clean energy as far as electricity networks in
Europe, the Middle East and Asia thus generating additional income for the
canal.
The canal will deliberately raise ships to the highest and most pragmatic heights using its lock system for three basic reasons:
Differences between a conventional
canal and the hydro-electric canal
The Suez canal is 193km long, 24 meters deep and 205 meters wide. The Africa
Grand hydro-electric Canal is conceptualised as a hydro-electric canal. It is
based on a similar concept as a dam, with a number of subtle differences. The
canal channel is conceptualised as being 800m wide and 40m deep and over
12,000km long.
To begin with the locks on a conventional canal are used to move ships between different elevations. In a hydroelectric canal the primary purpose of locks is to move large volumes of water from lower elevations to higher elevations in a strategic net manner. In other words the cost of elevating volumes of water must be cheaper or lower than the income generated by moving volumes of water to lower elevations using the lock system. As water flows from high elevation dams to lower elevations in the canal through taps it is harnessed to further generate electricity.
Since the high speed and high volume lock system is part of the system for the generation of hydro-electricity, as the lock system transfers vessels to higher elevations it is also moving water that will generate electricity every time water moves from a higher to a lower elevation from the high elevation dams or reservoir “battery” drops. A salt water reservoir is gathered at the highest elevations using the lock system. Though the salt water reservoir is pumped to the reach the highest elevations using the canal’s electricity this reservoir is like a battery that allows hydro-electric energy to be stored for current and future use. The canal will attempt to maintain an artificial store of at least 10 years worth of hydroelectric power at a time. This volume can be increased depending on the existing African and worldwide demand for electricity.
Unlike a conventional dam, which has its power station combined within the
fixed area of the dam wall and reservoir, the hydro-electric canal is
conceptualised to be able to channel water from anywhere along the length of
the canal wall into artificially created high elevation reservoirs, then through
“taps” or drops which draw water from the canal into hydro-electric power
stations. Dams first convert the pressure from reservoirs into electricity then the ensuing
gravitational plunge of water falling into drops generates electricity which is distributed
throughout the course of the canal and to countries in need of energy.
This water is then allowed to flow back to the seas and oceans where it will
eventually re-enter the canal naturally through the rain cycle and artificially
through solar and hydro powered electric pumps as a
renewable resource.
The superior depth and width of the canal defies that of a conventional canal, such as the Panama Canal, due to the fact that the canal is primarily a purpose built giant hydro-electric structure with the added value of being a conduit for transportation.
The canal is conceptualised here as a giant renewable energy power station, the veins of water that supply the power station are also a canal for essential transportation. The canal is sprawled strategically across the African continent providing a backbone, microcosm spine or “city” on which development in Africa can be built and to which each and every country in Africa can integrate into to accelerate development, it is conceptualised as being 40m deep , 800 meters wide to satisfy its power generation requirements and the length of its combined branches will measure over 12,000km as they reach into the interior of the continent, while the canal itself will be designed to be able to initially generate at least 1 million megawatts of electricity. Excess electricity will be exported.
One of the advantages of the canal hydro-electric power plant concept is
that its narrow width reduces the amount flood water area created by a
conventional dam. The narrow direction of the canal can be controlled and maneuvered around obstacles. The use of waters from the oceans to generate hydroelectricity means that fresh water bodies of water need not be extensively interfered with. There
are many other advantages one of these being that the structure also becomes a
marine highway used for strategic transportation and a conduit for tourism.
In times were the natural rain cycle is insufficient, the canal will have an artificial precipitation system in lower arid regions to ensure that lakes and rivers at higher elevations used to supply the canal with water are continually replenished with fresh water especially when the natural cycle of rainfall fails. This water is distributed through the canal to ensure African rivers and lakes always have sufficient water. The artificial precipitation system will consist of an array of reflector dishes heating up water daily which is then collected from the lower elevations of the canal and conveyed through black pipes converting it into vapour which is now collected in a “forest” of artificial condensers at higher elevations and stored in high elevation reservoirs. African rivers that help to feed the canal and water can be replenished by this resource whenever the need arises. The artificial condensation process which lifts water back to higher elevations harnesses a free renewable resource by using the sun to heat up black water pipes via reflector dishes. This ensures the hydro electric canal continually has sufficient access to water.
Power Plant
First and foremost the Africa Grand is a continent wide power plant drawing in water from the seas and oceans to elevate into hydro-electric reservoirs that are a store of hydro-electric power. The canal is a conduit for the transfer of water to higher elevations, however, it serves a dual purpose in that it is also used to create a marine superhighway through which to foster increased ease of movement within the African continent.
The Africa Grand hydro-electric canal is conceptualised as the only canal in he world that will attempt to lift ships to some of the highest possible elevations in Africa in order for the lock process to become part of the water elevation process for hydroelectric power generation, secondly for the canal itself to be a tourist attraction lifting ships to uncommon higher elevations, for the canal to provide scenic access to tourist locations yet provide the best and most cost effective transport routes throughout Africa. The canal is primarily a source of renewable energy, a continent wide power plant, initially with a targeted capacity of more than 1 million megawatts of electricity on tap and available throughout Africa. It is generated through hydro-electric power stations placed along the length of the canal and at strategic kinetic battery reservoirs. This generation capacity will back growth on the African continent and allow the canal to provide all the energy it needs for the continent, its own commercial activity as well as export excess power to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As well as artificial kinetic battery reservoirs or dams, the hydro-electric canal will use a system of taps and drops between levels of elevation. The 2 stage taps exploit the weight of water pulled by gravity to turn multiple heavy duty turbines from vertical elevations 400 meters or more above sea level.
This is due to the fact that the source of energy is the water that flows
into the man-made hydro-electric canal, stored in high elevation reservoirs and
drains back into the oceans and seas, that is then lifted back to higher
elevations by a natural rain cycle, pumps and artificial precipitation cycle. The
more energy required the greater the number of hydro-electric stations, “taps”
or “drops” built into the Canal. The cycle of water flowing into the canal and
back into the oceans and seas is used to generate power. Unlike a
hydro-electric dam that can only generate a limited amount of power in a
limited location, hydro-electric taps on the canal can increase to satisfy
demand for energy the greater the amount of water flowing into and out of the canal.
The purpose of the canal is to bring water close to higher elevations above sea level where it can be lifted for storage in high elevation pressure dams. The lock system will lift ships but also work to continuously lift water into high elevation reservoirs. This is in order to be able to exploit the drops that turn the hydro-electric turbines. Africa’s highest elevations range between 5,895 meters (Kilimanjaro) 3,470 (Nyiragongo). Most of Africa’s elevation lies between 500 meters and 2,000 meters above sea level. This creates many opportunities to create artificial drops that harness the long vertical descent of water. This water is returned to seas and oceans so that it can eventually be returned to the canal system. A single vertical drop of 400 meters from reservoir to sea level is capable of being harnessed to a maximum of between 80 to 160 turbines depending on design. A single modern turbine is capable of generating upto 500 megawatts of electrical energy. If 160 of these turbines are built into an artificial vertical drop, a single drop would be able to generate 80,000 MW with only one head of water being able to turn 160 turbines as it falls. This represents an efficient use of water to generate power. Just 12 and drops of this kind would be enough to generate 1 million MW, and the Africa Grand is envisaged as being capable of having hundreds or even thousands of them. The potential for generation of electricity is significant. This power will be readily available in any location of the continent and excess power will be ready for export. The design of pressure dams constantly filling high elevation reservoirs and drop turbines generating power as this water returns to the oceans represents a self perpetuating power supply system.
As mentioned earlier African countries would therefore have an enormous supply of hydro electric power at their doorstep, a significant capacity to increase power generation when necessary, with excess power exported to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. An undersea supply line would make it possible for excess power to be supplied to North and South America.
Strategic Prerequisite 2: Efficient and cost effective continental transportation
The problem of energy and the problem of continental transportation are resolved through the concept of a hydro-electric canal which is the foundation or catalyst for industrialisation by providing the conduit for African governments to exploit each region’s and each country’s comparative advantage.
Strategic prerequisite 2, efficient and cost effective transportation is covered through the Africa Grand’s basic continental routes. It is expected that every African country with strategic interest or strategic ports will have an opportunity to build a national canal route that connects to the basic canal route through the harmonisation of ports. This is due to the fact that the canal is a conduit for the collective distribution of hydro-electric power, fresh water, tourism, education, industry, exploitation of natural resources and so on. Each country will therefore have the option of having a direct connection to the canal highway that may traverse the country from and to what it perceives as its most strategic assets. Each African country is expected to be able to find ways of exploiting its absolute or comparative advantage through access to the Africa Grand thus allowing African countries to compliment each other.
The canal is deliberately planned to pass through some regions or areas that are currently unstable, such as the Central African Republic, as it is expected that the economic activity and impact of the hydro-electric canal will bring peace, development and economic stability to these regions.
Harmonisation of African Ports
The harmonisation of ports in Africa is one of the most important prerequisites for development to take place on the continent. What harmonisation entails is that any revenues and movement of cargo entering Africa be it from Durban, Port Elizabeth in South Africa, Walvis Bay in Namibia, Dar es Salam Port in Tanzania, Ports in Egypt, Senegal or Kenya is managed and received by a single African multinational authority. What should be understood is that through harmonisation and investing in the Africa Grand national economies and governments with coastal ports will generate and receive greater revenues than they currently generate and receive from the fragmented African port system.
The Africa Grand envisages the harmonisation of African ports such that these ports no longer compete with one another directly, but now own and generate greater revenues (through their ownership of and participation in the Africa Grand) than they did when they were fragmented ports. Essentially this means that all ports benefit from any cargo entering or leaving any port on the continent and staff in ports can work at any partner port on the continent. Port authorities are expected to own, manage and collectively benefit from all the activities of the new hydro-electric canal system as a commercial investment growing from fragmented, independent national ports and harbours into one effective continental port system where labour, revenues and management are integrated. The revenues generated by the Africa Grand hydro-electric canal should exceed the profits and national earnings previously realised by individual fragmented ports. Employment should also increase since governments can cooperate to ensure staff of these ports can work anywhere in Africa where the Grand Canal operates ensuring there will be no job losses. Old and newly recruited staff will be able to work anywhere on the Africa Grand extensive continental new inland and coastal port operations. It is envisaged as a major mover of cargo, a major employer and an important source of new jobs for workers across the African spectrum thus lowering unemployment across Africa.
The tentative map route shows the Africa Grand “begin” in Port Elizabeth for South Africa which is strategically situated between ports in Cape Town and Durban and spreads throughout the African interior with various routes connecting to other continental ports. Countries are able to collectively plan how they will connect to the basic canal route in a manner that is most advantageous to their economies. The canal is strategically conceptualised to free countries from the colonial legacy of being landlocked countries bringing routes with direct access to the world’s oceans and seas through harmonised port system. These countries will be able to have passenger cruise ships, commercial container vessels and super-tankers float right to their inland ports, to their very doorstep. Formerly, landlocked countries like Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia will see huge container and cargo ships float right into their cities for the first time floating on water being channelled to high elevation reservoirs for the generation of electricity. Exports from extractive industries such as copper in Zambia will be able to transport copper ore using trucks from mines to the canal for onward export and value addition taking place through industries operating on the Africa Grand itself. Since the Africa Grand will have economic hubs with commodity markets governments in Africa extracting valuable natural resource will be able to ensure they receive fair prices for their mineral wealth and that value addition or manufacturing of this mineral wealth can take place immediately at any relevant industrial location on the hydro-electric canal. With a width of 800 meters and depth of 40 meters even the world’s largest container ships and super-tankers would be able to make 360 degree turns if need be and traverse directly toward and into all previously landlocked and inaccessible countries and regions in Africa bringing, industry, trade and commerce to their doorstep.
For African nations that already have a coastline, coastal ports and direct access to oceans and seas the canal provides “back access” to regions and territories deep into their interior where such strategic transport routes and access to electricity would have previously been difficult to envisage and costly for governments to undertake alone. This allows them to begin to take make use of comparative advantage and to take advantage of economies of scale to strategically move national development across the entire breadth of a country involving both African rural and urban communities.
The canal network initially links every country on the continent providing new access transport routes, new industries and bringing with it much needed electricity and other benefits. The Africa Grand is conceptualised to support and increase several types of transport namely airlines, high-speed passenger railway, cargo rail, heavy duty trucks, light vehicles, hyper-loop and marine transportation all interconnected through relevant stations. Its highways will also support a diverse range of vehicle propulsion systems such as petroleum, electric and hydrogen powered vehicles using refuelling stations conveniently placed along the hydro-electric canal’s superhighway, supplied by electricity and fuels processed on the canal itself. This supply of energy and refuelling becomes a source of income and revenue stream for the Africa Grand.
Ending Unemployment in Africa
To begin with the scale of the Africa Grand is daunting. This is a good thing, as it is a commercial project that will repay the investment made to build it. It will require a tremendous amount of manpower from Africa and abroad to build the infrastructure that becomes the Africa Grand. Construction of the canal will require every skill level, and even those that are uneducated and unskilled can be trained to participate and earn an income from the canal’s construction. This will pull in labour from both rural and urban areas. The Africa Grand links every country in Africa, delves deep into the continent bringing development to remote areas of the interior in many countries and each country can begin construction of its routes simultaneously such that the routes eventually converge. This entails a huge demand for labour in every African country such that even war torn regions participating in canal construction will simply not have time for war or conflict as new jobs become available related to canal construction and new income sources are created for local populations thus improving living standards for households. The scale of this project is likely to exceed the available workforce in Africa and may require additional labour from abroad.
African governments will be able to tailor their education programmes in advance to ensure that on completion the Africa Grand has the required skill and manpower to run the diverse range of commercial and non-commercial activity taking place on the canal, this includes the various extraction, manufacturing and service industries it supports that will begin operate on the canal and the cities that will emerge around them. This will mean future jobs for current and future generations across Africa.
Trade
An increase in trade between African countries will be anticipated as countries make use of the canal to exchange goods and services through exports and imports. A dramatic increase in internal foreign direct investment is expected to increase as African nations find it easier to invest in one another through the canal which lowers the cost of intra-African investment and growth.
The Africa Grand envisages inland ports for offloading and exporting cargo at the doorstep of landlocked African nations as well as at the furthest inland borders of countries with coastlines. Container ships, cargo ships, cruise liners and a variety of vessels will be able to dock at inland ports. Since African ports will be harmonised by their participation in the Africa Grand the creation of new inland ports in landlocked countries will be a huge potential revenue source and practical course of expansion, investment and development for existing African ports and port authorities.
Large vessels would be able to make their way deep into the African interior
docking at purpose built interior ports in countries like Uganda, Rwanda,
Burundi, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Niger Mali and so on, something
previously thought impossible, now managed by the continental harmonised port
authority.
The inland hydro-electric canal will support the world’s largest ships.
Harmonised Port authorities will create new jobs and increase earnings by increasing storage and other port services as economic activity and growth in each African country is simultaneously accelerated.
Ports at Kasangula border, Nakonde will allow countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana to rise above the colonial legacy of land-locked countries and have strategic inland routes for tourism, the movement of raw materials such as copper, steel and other natural resources tantamount to the economic emancipation of the continent.
Tourism increases through Cruise ships and Passenger Ships
Cruise ships and passenger ships would significantly lower the cost of mass travel within Africa bringing tourists and travellers from Africa itself and around the world to the doorstep of iconic tourist destinations such as the Victoria Falls, pyramids in Egypt and so on thereby significantly enhancing commercial activity in the tourism sector which is expected to see visitor number rise exponentially accelerating revenues for earned from tourism for African governments.
The Africa Grand Hydro-electric Canal will allow cruise and passenger ships to travel deep into the African interior. This opens up significant opportunities for increasing eco-tourism in national parks and tourist sites deep in the African interior as the affordability of travel is improved by the canal creating new jobs for Africans.
Cruise ships offer an opportunity for countries to increase volumes of tourists and it is expected that the Africa Grand canal itself will be a major tourist attraction giving people the opportunity to experience many African countries, and the very many tourist attractions they have to offer.
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| Wiki (2014) |
The hydro-electric canal will focus on exploiting gravity through drops where the weight of water turns turbines. Its primary goal is to use high elevation water reservoirs to store long term energy for use in electricity. These reservoirs are kept filled artificially and naturally for long term power supply. The high elevation dams will use electricity from high elevation pressure dams to move water from sea level to high elevations and once captured drops will be used to turn generators that efficiently convert the stored energy into electricity for onward distribution to Africa and abroad.
Strategic prerequisite 1: Power Generation
The Africa Grand hydro-electric canal will be designed to produce tremendous amounts of electricity strategically above and beyond the needs of the African continent with a practical objective. Firstly, as an emerging industrial giant ( a consequence of the Africa Grand) the continent will guarantee it is never faces a deficit of energy it needs to sustain its new and evolving industries anywhere on the continent, secondly for the income generated from being able to export excess power from the Africa Grand to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Demand for energy will continue to grow across the world and the Africa Grand is envisaged to be a major force in the supply of clean hydro-electric energy. The canal itself and its routes are built to move massive volumes of sea water through the 800 meters by 40 meters cavity of the canal and bring them in close proximity to elevation pumps which supply artificial high elevation reservoirs. The advantage is that this canal cavity supplies water for high elevation reservoirs as well as providing transport routes. The canal’s primary function is to then store this sea water as energy in high elevation artificial reservoirs and support a marine route into the African interior.
The source of electricity generation will be from water resources drawn in from and back into the oceans and seas. Consequently, the hydro-electric canal will persistently seek routes that take it near to higher elevations using a system of locks.
The purpose of the canal is to bring large volumes of ocean water inland reducing the distance between this water and higher elevations, then begin to raise it to these higher elevations using elevation pumps. The canal brings water near high elevations such as mountain tops. These mountain tops are carefully excavated to build high altitude hydro-electric pressure or gravity dams which act as long term “hydro-batteries” for storing electrical energy. From these dam pressure is used to generate electricity by running it through turbines, it then plunges into high altitude drops where turbines are placed in vertical gaps every 5 meters. Using this method a single head of water of 10 cubic meters (weighing 10 tonnes) falling at intervals of 5 meters could strike or turn as many as 80 turbines during its descent back down to sea level generating hydro electric energy for the Grand Canal and its international grid. The higher the drop, the greater the number of turbines that can be harnessed and therefore the greater the volume of electricity that can be generated. A hydro-electric canal such as this seeks to exploit the long term storage capacity of electrical energy in high elevation reservoirs supplied with sea water by the canal. Each high elevation cavity that is excavated into strategic high elevation dams should be able to store at least two to three years worth of electrical energy and take only one year to fill from the canal system using fast high volume water pumps should rainfall levels prove inadequate to sustain some high elevation dams.
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| high elevation pressure dams and reservoirs |
Its purpose is to exploit two main types of energy for the generation of electricity. The first is water pressure created by water collected in high elevation reservoir hydro-electric dams. The second is over-run or the energy created by moving water falling from higher to lower elevations referred to as “drops”.
Cost of electricity
Using this method the cost of electricity generated by the hydro-electric canal must include the cost of storing electrical energy in high elevation reservoirs. On average a reservoir should be able to be completely filled, using high volume electrical pumps alone exploiting pressure dams and still be profitable. The energy spent by the pumps is stored in the reservoirs. It is then released to generate electricity through the high elevation dams and the drops. The gravity or pressure dam produces the electricity that powers the pumps that move water from lower levels or sea level into the high elevation reservoir dam. This creates a perpetual movement of water that keeps the high elevation reservoir or “battery” where this energy is stored perpetually filled with water that has been brought into close proximity using the canal system. The drop turbines harvest electricity from water plunging back to sea level pulled by gravity. Drop turbines are placed every 5 meters to allow the head of falling water to gain momentum before striking the next lower drop turbine.
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| Pressure dams and drops create a perpetual energy system |
Two electrical systems are constantly in operation, these are; the pressure
generator and the drop generator. The lock system pumps and lift pumps which
bring water inland from the seas and oceans are fed by the pressure or dam
generator. The Africa Grand and all its economic activity as well as the international
grid supplying Africa, Europe and Asia are fed by the power created by the drop
generators.
The Africa Grand will also take into cognisance tremendous opportunities in
solar power opened up by the course of the canal which will come into close
proximity of arid regions with tremendous potential in solar power generation
created by exposure to heat and sunlight. This energy will be stored in
mountain top and other high elevation reservoirs. In these regions the canal
will incorporate massive solar panel arrays to generate electricity to power
high volume water pumps which will move water for storage in high elevation
artificial reservoirs. Excess solar power will be channelled into the canal's
supply grid and made available throughout Africa. Other sources of clean energy
exploited by the canal will be reflector dish arrays used to heat and collect
fresh water in precipitation “forests” using sunlight as a free natural source
of energy.
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| Long vertical drops allow for numerous turbines |
1.
Natural rainfall is the cheapest source of water for
building reservoirs
2.
Natural rivers and lakes in Africa may be used by the
canal to build reservoirs and generate hydro-electric power which is also used
to power pumps to create high elevation reservoirs.
3.
The lock system of the canal used to lift and lower
ships to different elevations will be used to fill hydro-electric high
elevation reservoirs and dams. Since canal water may flow in one direction to move
ships either up or down the locks this water will be pumped constantly upward
and will be eventually stored from locks into the highest elevations and
supplied to taps to generate current and future hydroelectric power.
4.
Solar power in the desert and arid regions will be harnessed
through solar panel arrays to generate electricity stored in high elevation reservoirs
with excess being supplied directly.
5.
Reflector dish arrays will be used in hot and arid
regions strategically to fill reservoirs and dams as well as generate electricity.
The canal will deliberately raise ships to the highest and most pragmatic heights using its lock system for three basic reasons:
1.
To raise water to higher elevations for the purpose of
generating hydro-electric power for the canal, continents industries and
households.
2.
To provide an effective route for transportation
3.
To use an elevated canal system as a conduit for
tourism
To begin with the locks on a conventional canal are used to move ships between different elevations. In a hydroelectric canal the primary purpose of locks is to move large volumes of water from lower elevations to higher elevations in a strategic net manner. In other words the cost of elevating volumes of water must be cheaper or lower than the income generated by moving volumes of water to lower elevations using the lock system. As water flows from high elevation dams to lower elevations in the canal through taps it is harnessed to further generate electricity.
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| Revenues from vessels paying to use the canal also fund the movement of water through the canal lock system to the hydro-electric reservoir |
Since the high speed and high volume lock system is part of the system for the generation of hydro-electricity, as the lock system transfers vessels to higher elevations it is also moving water that will generate electricity every time water moves from a higher to a lower elevation from the high elevation dams or reservoir “battery” drops. A salt water reservoir is gathered at the highest elevations using the lock system. Though the salt water reservoir is pumped to the reach the highest elevations using the canal’s electricity this reservoir is like a battery that allows hydro-electric energy to be stored for current and future use. The canal will attempt to maintain an artificial store of at least 10 years worth of hydroelectric power at a time. This volume can be increased depending on the existing African and worldwide demand for electricity.
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| high speed lock system |
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| Comparative advantages offered by African countries allows use of diverse sources of energy fed into the hydro-electric canal |
The superior depth and width of the canal defies that of a conventional canal, such as the Panama Canal, due to the fact that the canal is primarily a purpose built giant hydro-electric structure with the added value of being a conduit for transportation.
The canal is conceptualised here as a giant renewable energy power station, the veins of water that supply the power station are also a canal for essential transportation. The canal is sprawled strategically across the African continent providing a backbone, microcosm spine or “city” on which development in Africa can be built and to which each and every country in Africa can integrate into to accelerate development, it is conceptualised as being 40m deep , 800 meters wide to satisfy its power generation requirements and the length of its combined branches will measure over 12,000km as they reach into the interior of the continent, while the canal itself will be designed to be able to initially generate at least 1 million megawatts of electricity. Excess electricity will be exported.
In times were the natural rain cycle is insufficient, the canal will have an artificial precipitation system in lower arid regions to ensure that lakes and rivers at higher elevations used to supply the canal with water are continually replenished with fresh water especially when the natural cycle of rainfall fails. This water is distributed through the canal to ensure African rivers and lakes always have sufficient water. The artificial precipitation system will consist of an array of reflector dishes heating up water daily which is then collected from the lower elevations of the canal and conveyed through black pipes converting it into vapour which is now collected in a “forest” of artificial condensers at higher elevations and stored in high elevation reservoirs. African rivers that help to feed the canal and water can be replenished by this resource whenever the need arises. The artificial condensation process which lifts water back to higher elevations harnesses a free renewable resource by using the sun to heat up black water pipes via reflector dishes. This ensures the hydro electric canal continually has sufficient access to water.
Power Plant
First and foremost the Africa Grand is a continent wide power plant drawing in water from the seas and oceans to elevate into hydro-electric reservoirs that are a store of hydro-electric power. The canal is a conduit for the transfer of water to higher elevations, however, it serves a dual purpose in that it is also used to create a marine superhighway through which to foster increased ease of movement within the African continent.
The Africa Grand hydro-electric canal is conceptualised as the only canal in he world that will attempt to lift ships to some of the highest possible elevations in Africa in order for the lock process to become part of the water elevation process for hydroelectric power generation, secondly for the canal itself to be a tourist attraction lifting ships to uncommon higher elevations, for the canal to provide scenic access to tourist locations yet provide the best and most cost effective transport routes throughout Africa. The canal is primarily a source of renewable energy, a continent wide power plant, initially with a targeted capacity of more than 1 million megawatts of electricity on tap and available throughout Africa. It is generated through hydro-electric power stations placed along the length of the canal and at strategic kinetic battery reservoirs. This generation capacity will back growth on the African continent and allow the canal to provide all the energy it needs for the continent, its own commercial activity as well as export excess power to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As well as artificial kinetic battery reservoirs or dams, the hydro-electric canal will use a system of taps and drops between levels of elevation. The 2 stage taps exploit the weight of water pulled by gravity to turn multiple heavy duty turbines from vertical elevations 400 meters or more above sea level.
The purpose of the canal is to bring water close to higher elevations above sea level where it can be lifted for storage in high elevation pressure dams. The lock system will lift ships but also work to continuously lift water into high elevation reservoirs. This is in order to be able to exploit the drops that turn the hydro-electric turbines. Africa’s highest elevations range between 5,895 meters (Kilimanjaro) 3,470 (Nyiragongo). Most of Africa’s elevation lies between 500 meters and 2,000 meters above sea level. This creates many opportunities to create artificial drops that harness the long vertical descent of water. This water is returned to seas and oceans so that it can eventually be returned to the canal system. A single vertical drop of 400 meters from reservoir to sea level is capable of being harnessed to a maximum of between 80 to 160 turbines depending on design. A single modern turbine is capable of generating upto 500 megawatts of electrical energy. If 160 of these turbines are built into an artificial vertical drop, a single drop would be able to generate 80,000 MW with only one head of water being able to turn 160 turbines as it falls. This represents an efficient use of water to generate power. Just 12 and drops of this kind would be enough to generate 1 million MW, and the Africa Grand is envisaged as being capable of having hundreds or even thousands of them. The potential for generation of electricity is significant. This power will be readily available in any location of the continent and excess power will be ready for export. The design of pressure dams constantly filling high elevation reservoirs and drop turbines generating power as this water returns to the oceans represents a self perpetuating power supply system.
As mentioned earlier African countries would therefore have an enormous supply of hydro electric power at their doorstep, a significant capacity to increase power generation when necessary, with excess power exported to Europe, Asia and the Middle East. An undersea supply line would make it possible for excess power to be supplied to North and South America.
Strategic Prerequisite 2: Efficient and cost effective continental transportation
The problem of energy and the problem of continental transportation are resolved through the concept of a hydro-electric canal which is the foundation or catalyst for industrialisation by providing the conduit for African governments to exploit each region’s and each country’s comparative advantage.
Strategic prerequisite 2, efficient and cost effective transportation is covered through the Africa Grand’s basic continental routes. It is expected that every African country with strategic interest or strategic ports will have an opportunity to build a national canal route that connects to the basic canal route through the harmonisation of ports. This is due to the fact that the canal is a conduit for the collective distribution of hydro-electric power, fresh water, tourism, education, industry, exploitation of natural resources and so on. Each country will therefore have the option of having a direct connection to the canal highway that may traverse the country from and to what it perceives as its most strategic assets. Each African country is expected to be able to find ways of exploiting its absolute or comparative advantage through access to the Africa Grand thus allowing African countries to compliment each other.
The canal is deliberately planned to pass through some regions or areas that are currently unstable, such as the Central African Republic, as it is expected that the economic activity and impact of the hydro-electric canal will bring peace, development and economic stability to these regions.
Harmonisation of African Ports
The harmonisation of ports in Africa is one of the most important prerequisites for development to take place on the continent. What harmonisation entails is that any revenues and movement of cargo entering Africa be it from Durban, Port Elizabeth in South Africa, Walvis Bay in Namibia, Dar es Salam Port in Tanzania, Ports in Egypt, Senegal or Kenya is managed and received by a single African multinational authority. What should be understood is that through harmonisation and investing in the Africa Grand national economies and governments with coastal ports will generate and receive greater revenues than they currently generate and receive from the fragmented African port system.
The Africa Grand envisages the harmonisation of African ports such that these ports no longer compete with one another directly, but now own and generate greater revenues (through their ownership of and participation in the Africa Grand) than they did when they were fragmented ports. Essentially this means that all ports benefit from any cargo entering or leaving any port on the continent and staff in ports can work at any partner port on the continent. Port authorities are expected to own, manage and collectively benefit from all the activities of the new hydro-electric canal system as a commercial investment growing from fragmented, independent national ports and harbours into one effective continental port system where labour, revenues and management are integrated. The revenues generated by the Africa Grand hydro-electric canal should exceed the profits and national earnings previously realised by individual fragmented ports. Employment should also increase since governments can cooperate to ensure staff of these ports can work anywhere in Africa where the Grand Canal operates ensuring there will be no job losses. Old and newly recruited staff will be able to work anywhere on the Africa Grand extensive continental new inland and coastal port operations. It is envisaged as a major mover of cargo, a major employer and an important source of new jobs for workers across the African spectrum thus lowering unemployment across Africa.
The tentative map route shows the Africa Grand “begin” in Port Elizabeth for South Africa which is strategically situated between ports in Cape Town and Durban and spreads throughout the African interior with various routes connecting to other continental ports. Countries are able to collectively plan how they will connect to the basic canal route in a manner that is most advantageous to their economies. The canal is strategically conceptualised to free countries from the colonial legacy of being landlocked countries bringing routes with direct access to the world’s oceans and seas through harmonised port system. These countries will be able to have passenger cruise ships, commercial container vessels and super-tankers float right to their inland ports, to their very doorstep. Formerly, landlocked countries like Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia will see huge container and cargo ships float right into their cities for the first time floating on water being channelled to high elevation reservoirs for the generation of electricity. Exports from extractive industries such as copper in Zambia will be able to transport copper ore using trucks from mines to the canal for onward export and value addition taking place through industries operating on the Africa Grand itself. Since the Africa Grand will have economic hubs with commodity markets governments in Africa extracting valuable natural resource will be able to ensure they receive fair prices for their mineral wealth and that value addition or manufacturing of this mineral wealth can take place immediately at any relevant industrial location on the hydro-electric canal. With a width of 800 meters and depth of 40 meters even the world’s largest container ships and super-tankers would be able to make 360 degree turns if need be and traverse directly toward and into all previously landlocked and inaccessible countries and regions in Africa bringing, industry, trade and commerce to their doorstep.
For African nations that already have a coastline, coastal ports and direct access to oceans and seas the canal provides “back access” to regions and territories deep into their interior where such strategic transport routes and access to electricity would have previously been difficult to envisage and costly for governments to undertake alone. This allows them to begin to take make use of comparative advantage and to take advantage of economies of scale to strategically move national development across the entire breadth of a country involving both African rural and urban communities.
The canal network initially links every country on the continent providing new access transport routes, new industries and bringing with it much needed electricity and other benefits. The Africa Grand is conceptualised to support and increase several types of transport namely airlines, high-speed passenger railway, cargo rail, heavy duty trucks, light vehicles, hyper-loop and marine transportation all interconnected through relevant stations. Its highways will also support a diverse range of vehicle propulsion systems such as petroleum, electric and hydrogen powered vehicles using refuelling stations conveniently placed along the hydro-electric canal’s superhighway, supplied by electricity and fuels processed on the canal itself. This supply of energy and refuelling becomes a source of income and revenue stream for the Africa Grand.
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| Africa Grand basic canal routes |
To begin with the scale of the Africa Grand is daunting. This is a good thing, as it is a commercial project that will repay the investment made to build it. It will require a tremendous amount of manpower from Africa and abroad to build the infrastructure that becomes the Africa Grand. Construction of the canal will require every skill level, and even those that are uneducated and unskilled can be trained to participate and earn an income from the canal’s construction. This will pull in labour from both rural and urban areas. The Africa Grand links every country in Africa, delves deep into the continent bringing development to remote areas of the interior in many countries and each country can begin construction of its routes simultaneously such that the routes eventually converge. This entails a huge demand for labour in every African country such that even war torn regions participating in canal construction will simply not have time for war or conflict as new jobs become available related to canal construction and new income sources are created for local populations thus improving living standards for households. The scale of this project is likely to exceed the available workforce in Africa and may require additional labour from abroad.
African governments will be able to tailor their education programmes in advance to ensure that on completion the Africa Grand has the required skill and manpower to run the diverse range of commercial and non-commercial activity taking place on the canal, this includes the various extraction, manufacturing and service industries it supports that will begin operate on the canal and the cities that will emerge around them. This will mean future jobs for current and future generations across Africa.
Trade
An increase in trade between African countries will be anticipated as countries make use of the canal to exchange goods and services through exports and imports. A dramatic increase in internal foreign direct investment is expected to increase as African nations find it easier to invest in one another through the canal which lowers the cost of intra-African investment and growth.
The Africa Grand envisages inland ports for offloading and exporting cargo at the doorstep of landlocked African nations as well as at the furthest inland borders of countries with coastlines. Container ships, cargo ships, cruise liners and a variety of vessels will be able to dock at inland ports. Since African ports will be harmonised by their participation in the Africa Grand the creation of new inland ports in landlocked countries will be a huge potential revenue source and practical course of expansion, investment and development for existing African ports and port authorities.
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| Inland ports open up land locked countries |
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| Countries with coastal ports bring development deep into the interior |
The inland hydro-electric canal will support the world’s largest ships.
Harmonised Port authorities will create new jobs and increase earnings by increasing storage and other port services as economic activity and growth in each African country is simultaneously accelerated.
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| Container Yard |
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| Trucks deliver mineral ore to vessels |
Ports at Kasangula border, Nakonde will allow countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana to rise above the colonial legacy of land-locked countries and have strategic inland routes for tourism, the movement of raw materials such as copper, steel and other natural resources tantamount to the economic emancipation of the continent.
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| A cruise ship conceptually docked at Victoria Falls |
Tourism increases through Cruise ships and Passenger Ships
Cruise ships and passenger ships would significantly lower the cost of mass travel within Africa bringing tourists and travellers from Africa itself and around the world to the doorstep of iconic tourist destinations such as the Victoria Falls, pyramids in Egypt and so on thereby significantly enhancing commercial activity in the tourism sector which is expected to see visitor number rise exponentially accelerating revenues for earned from tourism for African governments.
The Africa Grand Hydro-electric Canal will allow cruise and passenger ships to travel deep into the African interior. This opens up significant opportunities for increasing eco-tourism in national parks and tourist sites deep in the African interior as the affordability of travel is improved by the canal creating new jobs for Africans.
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| A cruise ship conceptually docked at an inland port |
Cruise ships offer an opportunity for countries to increase volumes of tourists and it is expected that the Africa Grand canal itself will be a major tourist attraction giving people the opportunity to experience many African countries, and the very many tourist attractions they have to offer.
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[1] Wiki
(2014) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal
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