Description

The Steenbras Upper Dam was completed in 1977 and almost doubled the storage capacity on the Steenbras River. It is located just upstream of the Steenbras Lower Dam and can be seen from the N2 highway. In addition to storing water, the Steenbras Upper Dam also plays an important role in generating electricity as it forms the upper reservoir for the City of Cape Town’s Steenbras pumped storage scheme, the first such scheme to be built in Africa. Pump storage schemes are used to generate additional electricity in peak demand periods. During the night they use surplus electricity available on the national grid to pump water back up to the upper reservoir. Steenbras Upper Dam is also linked by an open canal and pipeline to the Rockview Dam that forms the upper reservoir of the Palmiet Pumped Storage Scheme, which is a separate pump storage scheme operated by Eskom and the Department of Water and Sanitation. The link allows water from the Palmiet River to be transferred to the dam.

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