As Zambia continues to grapple with the grim effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon, itโs energy crisis deepened after Itezhi-Tezhi Power Corporation (ITPC) announced the shut down of one of its two turbines because of drastically low water levels, which have dropped below the minimum required to adequately generate electricity.
ZESCOโs Director for Distribution and Customer Services Peter Chamfya said water levels in the reservoir have fallen to a record low of 12 metres below maximum capacity resulting in the plant losing 73% of its production capacity.
Chamfya said the hydro power plant was only producing 33MW of its 120MW installed capacity.
โRight now, we are in a crisis. We cannot produce the energy which this hydro power station was designed for. As I speak, we have shut down one machine here at ITPC. As I speak today, we are only producing 33MW, instead of 120MW.โ
ITPC Chief Resident engineer Ackim Mutawa showed media representatives the dried up dam and severe impact of the drought on hydro power generation and said that, โAt the moment, as you will be able to see, the current water level is 1,018 meters above sea level, representing a drop of 12 meters below the full supplying level.โ
The Itezhi-Tezhi dam sits in the Kafue River Basin in Southern Zambia. Kafue River, one of the countryโs major water sources, is said to be the most stressed river in the current drought – the worst in Zambiaโs recorded history.
The drying up reservoir at Itezhi-Tezhi is not dissimilar to Kariba Dam further south, which generates the bulk of Zambiaโs hydro powered electricity.
A few days ago, ZESCO announced that it has already depleted 70% of its allocated water for generation and was forced to reduce power generation further because the country is only remaining with 30% of usable water to sustain supply for the rest of the year.
Engineers at the power utility revealed that the massive man-made reservoir, which has supplied electricity to Zambia and its southern neighbor Zimbabwe for 64 years, is on the brink of shut down with water levels plunged down to only 1.78 meters.
ZESCO has been engaging stakeholders and the public to switch to alternative power sources in order to save the generators from shutting down and avert a total black out.
The shutdown of the ITPC turbine is likely to impact total supply as ZESCO is already rationing power countrywide in emergency daily load management of up to 16 hours long.
In a bid to implement critical intervention measures, the government through Energy Regulation Board (ERB) and Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), has waived import permits on solar equipment for domestic and non-commercial use.
Importers will now only be required to sign a self-declaration form, declaring that the equipment being imported is not for commercial purposes.
โTo promote the importation of solar equipment, importers
Energy commentator Johnstone Chikwanda said the ERB and ZRA have demonstrated the governmentโs commitment to remove industry bottlenecks as the country navigates the energy transition and implements the net-metering policy, which will allowed individuals to produce their own household energy and sell the excess.
โIt will help people have more options of where to buy their solar panels from compared to the current situation, which makes people a captive market for the few solar traders in the country. With the prices of solar products soaring high due to demand, people now have options to import solar panels for themselves or buy locally,โ Chikwanda said.
ZESCO and the government have been urging the public to adopt more off-grid methods of electricity generation and usage . The government already issued directives to all public departments to switch to solar power.
