Report warns Zambezi River Basin could dry
The Zambezi River Basin could become drier and lose up to 60 percent of hydro-power production potential to result in huge increases in electricity costs, say findings of a Climate Resilience of Africa’s Infrastructure.
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) acting executive secretary Antonio Pedro said that a landmark study on Enhancing the Climate Resilience of Africa’s Infrastructure (ECRAI) by the World Bank and the ECA shows that some river basins such as the Orange River Basin and Congo River Basin could become wetter under certain scenarios of global emissions pathways.
“In addition, some river basins such as the Zambezi River Basin could become drier and lose up to 60 percent of hydro-power production potential, resulting in huge increases in energy costs.
“In 2016 the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River, which supplies most of the electricity consumed in Zimbabwe and Zambia, almost shut down as the volume of water in the reservoir dropped to about 12 percent of capacity because of the unusual El Nino and La Nina events of 2015/2016 attributable to climate change.
Zambia daily mail
Picture courtesy of Arne Hoel/World Bank Group