THE REAL INVESTMENT GENERATION LOWER IN POWER
IAGREE with UPND president Hakainde Hichilema that Zambia should not have a power deficit as it was endowed with a lot of power generation resources such as Wind, Sun (Solar), Coal (Thermal) and Water (Hydro).
Of these, only coal is non- renewable as it is a fossil fuel and it will eventually run out and is now heavily frowned upon by environmentalists as a major cause of global warming.
BACKGROUND OF POWER GENERATION IN ZAMBIA
Hydro power is the most important energy source in the country after wood fuel contributing about 10 percent to the national energy supply. However, there has not been any major addition to the country’s generation capacity in the last 20-30 years despite the huge potential
In hydro resources, it is estimated that Zambia possesses 40 percent of the water resources in the Southern African Development Community. Zambia has about 6, 000 MW unexploited hydro power potential, while only about 1, 985 MW has been developed.
On the other hand, the demand for power in the various sectors of the economy has grown rapidly over the years.
From 1980 to 2011, Zambia’s installed capacity grew from 1538MW to 1812MW, an increase of only 274MW in 30 years. In 2011, due to increased Economic activities in Zambia, for the first time, peak demand outstripped installed capacity.
In 2011, PF won the Zambian elections and i’s President Michael Sata became President.
Well aware of the growing demand for electricity, the PF government embarked on a vigorous programme to invest in power generation to meet the growing demand for electricity.
Notable are the following projects...
HYDRO POWER
KAFUE GORGE LOWER (KGL) PROJECT
Construction of the Greenfield 750 (5 x 150) MW Kafue Gorge
(KGL) Hydroelectric Power Plant commenced in January 2016. The main works include the construction of a 139m high Roller Compacted Dam, a water intakes structure from where water will be abstracted from the reservoir, a 4.4 kilometre common headrace tunnel, five power tunnels from the end of the headrace tunnel to the individual generator units, a powerhouse accommodating the five generator units and a switchyard from which the power will be transmitted to the National Grid.
1 Mega Watt Shiwang’andu Mini Hydro Power Station.
The Shiwang’andu 1 Mega Watt Mini Hydro Power Station is located in Shiwang’andu, and situated in one of the most historic and scenic locations in the country.
One MW is enough power to electrify a small town and Shiwang’andu has been a life changing developmental initiative to the people of Chinsali.
Zesco has through projects such as the Shiwang’andu mini hydro Power Station extended electricity to rural areas to promote socio-economic growth by providing a sustainable energy source.
10 MW Musonda Falls Power Station
Zesco has upgraded the Musonda Falls Power Station in Mansa from 5 MW to 10 MW, was commissioned in 2018. Musonda Falls Hydro Power Station has been a source of power supply to seven districts in Luapula Province namely; Chiengi, Kawambwa, Mwense, Chipili, Chembe, Nchelenge and Samfya.
The upgrading of the Musonda Falls Power Station will increase local power capacity to reinforce reliability of supply in the province as well as add capacity to the national grid.
120 MW Itezhi-Tezhi Hydro Power Station
The 120 Mega Watts (MW) ITT Power Station located in Southern Province and commissioned in March, 2016 was a joint venture between Zesco and TATA Zambia at a cost of $245 million and has been operated by Itezhi Tezhi Power Corporation (ITPC).
The hydropower station which was originally constructed to provide storage capacity for the Kafue Gorge Power Station, is located on the Kafue River some 300 kilometre from the confluence of the Kafue and Zambezi rivers with both ITPC and Zesco having the Itezhi- Tezhi dam as a shared facility.
Itezhi-Tezhi does not just add capacity to the national grid, but it also improved power reliability within the district as power is readily available for mining and farming and has also brought about job creation.
14.8 MW Lunzua Hydro Power Station
Lunzua Hydro Power Station is located 23km west of Mbala and three kilometres from the Mbala-Mpulungu road on Lunzua River. The power station is almost mid-way between Mbala and Mpulungu.
The power atation was upgraded from 0.75 MW to 14.8 MW. Before upgrading, Lunzua used to supply power at 11kv to critical installations such as the Zambia Air force (ZAF), Outward Bound, to Zambia National Service (ZNS) and Mbala General Hospital and surrounding areas.
The new upgraded power station to 14.8 MW power station supplies Mbala, Mpulungu, Sumbawanga export line and Nkamba/Kasaba Bay at 66kv and surrounding areas.
15 MW Lusiwasi Lower
Lusiwasi Hydro Power Station is also classified as one of the small hydro power projects currently under implementation. It is situated in the Northern Province of Zambia standing at a latitude of 12.9884 and a longitude of 30.8649.
This infrastructure was designed for a capacity of 12 MW with four units. Zesco embarked on a project to rehabilitate the existing mini hydro power stations in a quest to enhance the quality and reliability of power supply in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
Kariba North Bank Extension
Located in Siavonga on the Zambezi River next to the existing Kariba North Bank Power Station is another 360 MW power station. A provision for the extension of the existing one was made during the planning and construction of the Kariba North Bank Power Station.
Kariba North Bank Extension (KNBE) Power Station was then developed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called Kariba North Bank Extension Power Corporation Limited (wholly owned by Zesco) at an estimated cost of US$420m.
In addition to Hydro Power, the PF Government has diversified the energy pool to include other sources of energy notably
A) Solar:
I. Zambia is the first country to implement the Scaling Solar programme, which brings together the World Bank Group’s suite of services to create viable solar energy markets.
The plant is expected to supply electricity to as many as 30, 000 homes and businesses, complement the country’s hydro-based system and save the government money in electricity buyng costs.
Zambia has entered the Scaling Solar phase to develop additional solar plants for increased capacity and savings.
II. Zesco Limited and Power China have signed three contracts worth US$548m to develop 600MW (AC) grid-connected Solar PV Power Plants to be located in Chibombo, Chirundu, and Siavonga.
In addition to these private power producers like Maamba and Ndola Heavy Fuel Oil have come on board to provide an additional 350MW. This is partly due to the government’s commitment to encourage cost reflective tariffs to attract private investment in the Electricity Sub Sector.
Zambia’s installed capacity has increased from 1812MW in 2011 to 2, 800 MW in 2019, an increase of 1, 000MW in 8 years under the PF Government.
So, from these, Mr. Hichilema can see that the PF government has indeed, like him, realised the potential that Zambia has to reduce the electricity deficit and has already embarked on this...