CEC makes steady progress on greenhouse gas balance

THE Copperbelt Energy Corporations (CEC) reportedly built carbon offsets of 34,067.77 tonnes in 2023, as it continues to work towards delivering on its sustainability ambitions.

This is against the 6,558.96 tonnes of carbon emissions generated from its operations in 2022, according to the CEC Chairperson, London Mwafulilwa, in the company 2023 Annual Report released last week.

Dr Mwafulilwa noted that this development ideally presented a favourable greenhouse gas balance.

“In our quest to broaden our efforts in offsetting carbon emissions, we continued with our tree planting programme in the year and attained a total of 500,000 trees planted since the inception of our programme.

The tree planting programme has the dual impact of managing emissions and preserving water sources.

“The capital investments made in the year such as our renewable energy investments, as well as modernisation of our assets and sourcing of finance, encompassed a focus on environmental sustainability,” he said.

Dr Mwafulilwa said CEC had put in place strategies aligning with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) number and thirteen on affordable clean energy and climate responsibility respectively.

He said these were among the SDGs adopted, to guide CEC’s sustainability decisions and actions.

On the financial performance, Dr Mwafulilwa announced that the Company has recorded steady revenue growth, reflecting quality sales and an effective sourcing strategy.

In 2023, he announced, CEC revenue of US$382 million was two percent higher than in 2022.

“I am pleased with the continuing good financial results recorded in the year, as they evidence the focus that has been placed on prudent management of business risks and quality capital investment.

“The profitability was US$137.6 million, an impressive increase from US$50.8 million in 2022, on account of a net impact of US$136.2 million which was a one-off debt writeback resulting from the settlement achieved with KCM and the full impairment of the Kabompo project costs,” Dr Mwafulilwa.