GOVT URGED TO CONSIDER IMPORTING ELECTRICITY FROM MOZAMBIQUE TO FURTHER REDUCE LOAD-SHEDDING
By Leah Ngoma
Energy Expert Johnstone Chikwanda is calling on government to consider importing electricity from neighboring Mozambique in order to further reduce load shedding hours.
Dr. Chikwanda is of the view that this may come at an extra cost but cannot be compared to the impact of not having electricity.
Addressing the media in Lusaka this morning, Dr. Chikwanda is concerned that the negative impact of load shedding is enormous on small and medium enterprises and residential customers further stating that Zesco which has partially run out of electricity to sale can also be expected to operate at a significant financial loss.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chikwanda has reiterated the need for the country to increase electricity tariffs significantly within the next 1 year as opposed to recommendations by the recent electricity cost of service study that the tariffs be increased by an average of 17% over a period of 5 years.
He has noted the need to address some long standing bottlenecks in the electricity subsector which include inadequate return on investment and lengthy and cumbersome approval processes which take a combined approval journey of at least 1 year before an investor can start importation of material and subsequent construction.
PHOENIX NEWS