POWER CHALLENGES

HARARE: Power generation has been reduced at Lake Kariba due to a declining water level.

The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) said water allocation for power generation would be cut by almost 600 megawatts from 1 476MW to 890MW.

“The lake level is five metres above the minimum operating level when it should be eight at this time of the year,” the authority, jointly constituted by Zambia and Zimbabwe, said on Friday.

The ZRA is a bi-national body responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Kariba Dam complex, the development of new dam sites on the Zambezi River and the analysis of hydrological and environmental information that pertains to the Zambezi River and Lake Kariba.

Because of below-normal rainfall recorded to date, the ZRA said inflows into the lake had been below average, leading to the water level dropping by more than 3m from October to February.

As a result, water allocated for power generation at Kariba had been reduced from 38 billion cubic metres to 36billion cubic metres for 2019 to ensure water would be available for power generation into the 2020 season.

The Kariba catchment area was expected to receive inadequate rain for the rest of the season.

Zimbabwe’s situation will be worsened by South Africa’s shortage.

| African News Agency (ANA)