Low water levels at Lake Kariba are likely to remain unchanged in the 2024/2025 season, despite the favorable rainfall projected, Green Economy and Environment Minister Mike Mposha has warned and encouraged citizens to continue investing in reliable alternative electricity sources.
In a ministerial statement in which he gave Zambia’s 2024/2025 rain forecast, Mposha said Eastern Angola, which contributes significantly to the Zambezi River catchment inflows, is likely to receive reduced (below normal) rainfall activity. “This could significantly affect inflows to Lake Kariba.”
“The decline in hydropower generation has also resulted in energy shortages, disrupting economic and industrial activities and, in some cases, leading to job losses. The drought also significantly reduced water availability for both domestic and industrial use. Further, pasture for livestock production was negatively impacted while hydropower generation at our reservoirs was not spared, as can be witnessed by the long hours of load management that we are currently experiencing for both domestic and industrial use,” Mposha said.
Mposha said the climate has severely devastated key economic sectors and the population, adding that substantial economic losses have resulted in the loss of billions of Kwacha for the country.
He noted that tourism has equally not been left unscathed by the drought’s far-reaching negative impact, “Reduced water levels in national parks and other tourist attractions have led to a decline in visitor numbers and even negatively affected wildlife,” Mposha says.
He commended citizens for adopting alternative energy sources in the face of the rolling power cuts.
“We have drastically reduced generation levels, and some consumers have switched to alternative energy reducing the demand, which is a good,” company spokesperson Matongo Maumbi, recently told the media in a status update of the power plant.
Reduced water inflow into Lake Kariba will continue to impact hydropower generation at ZESCO’s Kariba North Bank Power Station (KNBPS). The prolonged drought has severely depleted rivers feeding the Zambezi River on which the shrinking massive man-made lake sits downstream.
Water levels at Lake Kariba have dropped dramatically resulting in ZESCO effecting over 24-hour daily power cuts as power generation hits a historic low, making it difficult for the utility to sustain meaningful electricity supply to the country.
KNBPS is Zambia’s largest underground hydroelectric plant on which the country relies for most of its energy. In a race against time, Zambia is now looking to diversify its energy mix as the negative impact of climate change takes its toll.
Zambia is one of the hardest hit countries by the devastating El Nino-induced drought prevailing over most parts of Southern Africa. A positive weather forecast for the upcoming season offers hope for a rebound of hydropower generation and an agriculture turn-around following widespread crop failure.
Last month, ZESCO warned of a possible shutdown of its generators at the power plant by 14 September, due to insufficient useable water, a position it has now backtracked on albeit only with one of the six units left to operate.
