ZESCO Managing Director Victor Mapani has proposed that as part of the collective mindset and behavior change regarding electricity usage in Zambia, energy-inefficient electrical appliances must be banned from the Zambian market.
Speaking during last Thursday’s public discussion forum on load shedding, Mapani stated that while some legislation exists, its enforcement was not effective because banned products like incandescent light bulbs are “still all over the place.”
Zambia banned incandescent light bulbs as far back as 2016 to force a shift to energy-saving lighting. At the time, ZESCO even ran a campaign for consumers to exchange their incandescent bulbs for more energy-efficient longer-lasting compact fluorescent bulbs, including LEDs. Yet, nearly 10 years later, these bulbs are found in retail outlets and homes in abundance.
Illustrating the effect of wasteful appliances on power consumption, Mapani said if 300,000 of ZESCO’s 1.3 million domestic customers each consistently switched off five 20-watt bulbs, there would be net energy savings of 32MW.
That amount of electricity could power industrial loads, including some small mines, or non-mining loads for a town like Chingola.
Further, Mapani illustrated that one plate of an electric stove uses 1.5 kilowatts (1.5kW) of electricity. Therefore, 100,000 plates yield 150,000kW or 150 megawatts (MW), equal to the current Maamba Energy coal plant outage.
He stressed the need for consumers to shift electric cookers for cooking to gas, which is more efficient and less wasteful of energy.
He also disclosed that ZESCO would go into a program to change the standard electric geyser elements to a type that uses a single solar panel. He said it should be made mandatory by law that all water heating should use solar, starting with all new-build houses.
Mapani said that the company was working with partners to bring in greatly reduced solar power equipment to be sold to customers at cost. ZESCO would ensure the equipment goes directly to the people. He lamented that even though a crisis brings business opportunities, there should also be some decency to ensure “we get out of this as a nation, together” instead of being exploitative.
Despite the government taking steps to reduce end-user costs for solar equipment to increase uptake during the crisis, prices have remained high beyond the reach of the majority population as suppliers and retailers fail or neglect to pass the cost reduction benefits to consumers.
This has led the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to step in and urge businesses and suppliers of alternative energy products and solar equipment to pass on to struggling consumers the benefits derived from the tax incentives.
Separately, ZRA Corporate Communication Manager Oliver Nzala explained that in August, the ZRA launched the tax incentives and exemptions guide to provide information to the public on tax incentives to various sectors of the economy.
Nzala said ZRA had noted the public’s concerns about the prohibitive solar equipment they were being subjected to by suppliers of alternative energy and solar equipment, making it difficult for ordinary citizens to have other sources of electricity.
“ZRA is calling on suppliers of energy equipment to ensure that as they benefit from tax incentives, [the tax incentives provide for no customs duty, no value added tax, and, in some cases, no excise duty on imported goods used for the generation of electricity on alternative sources of energy], it is expected from the Authority’s point of view that even the end-users benefit by way of reduced prices of the costs of accessing or buying these alternative sources of energy.”
At the same public discussion, Zambia Association of Manufacturers president Ashu Sagar bemoaned the slow pace at which government incentives take root to show results in reality.
