ZESCO Limited has warned of reduced electricity supply in the coming months because it has exhausted 70% of its allocated water for power generation from the Kariba Dam, which feeds the Kariba North Bank Power Station.
Water usage from the shared resource with Zimbabwe is allocated annually by the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA).
Kariba North Bank Power Station Senior Station Manager Cephas Museba says Zambia has 30% of water remaining to sustain supply until December 2024, leaving the national power utility with no option but to further reduce generation.
Reduced generation will exacerbate an already constrained power supply situation for Zambia as it will lead to extended daily power cuts.
But Museba says ZESCO has engaged critical stakeholders with high-power demand to switch to alternative sources of power as the situation worsens.
“The amount of water that was allocated was 8 billion cubic meters (BCM), so right now as we speak, we have consumed 5 billion, which is more than 50% of our allocation. So, for the remaining part of the year, I am supposed to do lower than what I have generated so far,” Museba told journalists.
He says that water levels in the world’s largest man-made dam have plunged to 1.7 meters of useable water to be shared between the two hydroelectric power stations (Kariba North and South Banks) before hitting the lowest operating minimum point.
At the start of the year, the ZRA cut the Kariba Dam water allocations for power generation by 47% or 16 billion cubic meters (BCM) from 30 BCM because of low water levels in the massive reservoir.
The ZRA is a joint venture by the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe, which manages the Zambezi River and the Kariba Dam complex. Each country was allotted 8 BCM of water for respective power generation.
Meanwhile, ZESCO says it has been engaging with frustrated customers some of whom plan to protest the power crisis on July 10.
Company spokesperson Matongo Maumbi said ZESCO has challenges with adhering to its published load management schedule because of reduced control over imported power stability and scheduling.
Maumbi said power imported from Mozambique is transmitted through South Africa, Zimbabwe, or Namibia, and that any constraints in these power carrier paths can lead to deficits, disrupting supply and planned rationing schedules in Zambia.
And Museba attributed the disruptions in the load management rationing, which have resulted in increased power cuts, to high demand above the dam’s current capacity.
“It’s more than the capacity of the dam, and it’s either one reduces, or the line trips. If the line trips, chances that we go into a black out are high, and no one wants to experience a black out because how to come out from it is unpredictable.”
Museba appealed to the local media to help the company sensitise the public on the critical situation of the power crisis.
In recent months, ZESCO, the country’s national and largest power company, has heighted warnings of the dire power generation situation in the country, especially at the country’s largest single generating asset, shared by Zambia and its southern neighbor Zimbabwe. The Kariba Dam is the major source of hydroelectric power for the two countries.
ZESCO is currently implementing daily power cuts lasting between 12 and 18 hours except for critical institutions, including security installations, water supply and health facilities, industries and mining operations.
Zambia’s electrical energy is largely driven by hydro power with at least 83% of the country’s 2,800MW installed generating capacity produced from
hydroelectric power plants. Reduced rainfall last season due to El Nino weather conditions resulted in widespread drought and low water levels in the Kariba Dam.
The drought has left in its wake a crippling energy crisis set to disrupt the country’s economic stability, and a severe food shortage threatening nearly 10 million people with hunger.
