UPDATE ON THE ENERGY SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY.

UPDATE ON THE ENERGY SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY.

Today, the Energy Minister Makozo Chikote held a press briefing to update the nation on the energy situation in the country.

Here are the highlights;

✅ Available power generation this week remains at an average of 890 megawatts against an installation generation capacity of 3,777 Megawatts.

✅ The national average peak demand remained at 2,400 Megawatts, resulting in a power deficit of 1,510 Megawatts.

✅ To address this deficit, ZESCO limited  with other traders are currently importing a total of 496 megawatts of power from the region, leaving a net deficit of 1014MW which has resulted in more than 12 hours of power rationing throughout the country.

✅ This week, President Hakainde Hichilema graced the ground-breaking ceremony for a US$400 million Maamba Collieries phase II project which will supply an additional 300MW of thermal power into the national grid.

WATER SITUATION AT KARIBA DAM AS OF THIS WEEK;

✅The water situation in the country’s major reservoirs as reported in the last presser has continued to decline.

✅ In this regard, the Kariba dam remains with only about 10% of usable water for power generation against a relatively high-water utilisation rate to sustain demand. with the impending depletion of ZESCO’S water allocation at Kariba

LOAD-SHEDDING

✅ With the impending depletion of ZESCO’S water allocation at Kariba, the power deficit is expected to increase by 300mw while the inevitable scheduled maintenance at Maamba is expected to cause another 135mw deficit during the month of September 2024.

✅ The official power rationing hours will extend to 17 hours daily effective 1st September 2024.

✅168MW has been secured from ESKOM of South Africa and another 50MW is being negotiated from SAPP and is expected to start flowing by 21st august 2024.

ZESCO TARIFFS;

✅ Currently, ZESCO is importing power for as high as US$12.6 cents per kilowatt-hour against a local regulated tariff of US$4.1 cents per kilowatt-hour. ZESCO tariffs are since insufficient to meet the cost power imports.

✅ Government is consulting with various stakeholders in order to design a tariff mechanism that will allow the power utility company to recover its cost during the drought response period.

NET METERING;
✅ Government through ZESCO limited opened the doors for citizens and businesses to participate in the net-metering initiative.

✅ ZESCO has taken bold and proactive steps to ensure seamless execution of this initiative by publishing on their website a recommended list of equipment in order to ensure access to quality, reliable, efficient, and compatible technology options.

✅ The Energy Regulation Board (ERB) approved the requisite step by step guidelines for net-metering in order to ensure transparency and equity.

ADDITIONAL INCENTIVES FOR SOLAR, GEOTHERMAL AND LIQUIFIED PETROLEUM GAS (LPG) EQUIPMENT;

✅Government has approved additional incentives aimed at supporting not only the solar industry but also geothermal development and liquified petroleum gas equipment for cooking and heating.

IMPLEMENTATION OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROJECTS AND INSTALLATION IN STRATEGIC INSTITUTIONS;

✅ Government through the Rural  Electrification Authority (REA) continues to allocate more resources towards the rolling out of various off-grid and on-grid solar projects in various communities around the country in order to reduce the burden on the national grid during this difficult time.

✅ REA has completed three more solar mini-grids in the month of August, namely;

i. The 60-kilowatt Mpidi solar mini grid in Zambezi district, North western province;

ii. The 100-kilowatt Chilubi hospital solar mini grid in Chilubi district, Northern province; and

iii. The 70-kilowatt Chieftainess Mwanya solar mini grid in Lundazi district, in Eastern province.

✅ This brings the cumulative total of operational solar mini-grids developed by rea to thirteen (13).