Strategic institutions are not being load shed, but some health institutions are technically impossible to isolate, Minister of Energy Peter Kapala has said.
Delivering a ministerial statement on load shedding of hospitals and other critical institutions in the National Assembly today, Kapala said strategic institutions such as health facilities, water utilities, industry, mining firms, and the security wings had been exempted from load management and are receiving electricity on a 24-hour basis.
“The current load on exempted institutions stands 122MW divided as follows: hospitals, 42MW; water utilities, 38MW; security wings, 42MW,” Kapala explained.
He further said in instances where hospitals have experienced power outages, the disruptions have been due to faults, unscrupulous acts of theft and vandalism, or excessive power usage. Whenever that occurs, he said, ZESCO is tasked with effectively communicating with the affected institution before undertaking load management or maintenance works.
“Some health institutions are technically impossible to isolate, given how embedded they are in the ZESCO transmission network. To cushion the impact of load shedding on these institutions, the Ministry of Energy and key stakeholders are currently implementing the Presidential Solar Initiative of installing solar solutions,” he disclosed.
The minister also explained that ZESCO has continued to face challenges in implementing the load shedding schedules for various reasons, including shifting load patterns, exempted loads, equipment failure at the time of restoration, and consumers’ late reporting of faults because they are unable to distinguish between load management and faults.
He said abruption in the schedules and more extended load shedding hours may, therefore, be experienced due to unforeseen technical faults or thefts of installations as well as excessive power consumption beyond the available allocated power.
Kapala stated the short, medium, and long-term measures the government has put in are intended to provide lasting solutions for the provision of affordable and sustainable energy services across the length and breadth of all consumer categories.
