Power supply to mines satisfactory - CEC report

POWER sales to mine customers totalled 3,676.003 giga watts per hour in 2018 compared to 3,512.529 giga watts per hour the previous year, says Copperbelt Energy Corporation company secretary Julia Chaila.

Ms. Chaila said the total energy handled by the CEC network in 2018 was 5, 220.717GWh, out of which 3, 761. 343GWh constituted consumption by the mines while 1, 459. 374GWh was wheeled for ZESCO.

This is contained in the CEC financial statement ended December 31, 2018 released at the weekend.

She said the performance of the company power supply network throughout the year was satisfactory, having met all set benchmarks.

“The good rainfall during the 2017/18 season resulted in sufficient energy in the country’s main dams at Kariba and Itezhi Tezhi to sustain the country’s requirements for most of 2018 without import support,” Ms Chaila said.

Ms Chaila said the CEC bought most of the energy for local mining customers from ZESCO as contractually required under the Bulk Supply Agreement.

She said the firm only imported energy from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) in the first quarter of the year.

Ms Chaila said based on supplemental power agreements, imported power was supplied as replacement power to address the 30 percent energy deficit resulting from the partial drought of 2014. She said the country having had gained enough water in its dams by April 2018, ZESCO lifted the partial force majeure earlier declared in 2015, signalling that local sources were able to fully meet national demand.

Ms Chaila said consequently, the firm discontinued power imports from the SAPP in April 2018.

She said KCM carries out wheeling, which is the transportation of power on behalf of other entities, within the country and the SAPP.

Ms Chaila said the largest portion of the business segment was on behalf of ZESCO in relation to power supplied to all other customer categories other than the mines on the Copperbelt Province.

She said CEC also wheels power for Frontier Mine, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ms Chaila said a total of 1,476.161GWh and 271.583GWh was wheeled for ZESCO and Frontier Mine respectively.