One of the key power generation projects that was expected to contribute to the North-Western Province having a share of Zambia’s growing electricity generation pool, the Kabompo hydroelectric power project has now officially been confirmed to have been put on hold and shelved.
The development of the Kabompo Hydroelectric power project which was had been pursued by the Copperbelt Energy Corporation – CEC through its special purpose vehicle Kabompo Hydro Power Limited (KHPL) was initially estimated to require US$140 million in 2012 and later reported to have been revised upwards to have required US$220 million in 2015 in investements needed is now on ice.
During the 23rd Annual General Meeting held on April 30th 2021, CEC indicated that the initial study on the project indicated that technical solution at that time showed that the project was relatively expensive.
Commenting on a question from one of the shareholders who wanted to know the status of the project, Company chief executive officer Owen Silavwe disclosed that, due to the expensive nature of the project, CEC could not progress with implementation of the project in that form.
“What was then decided was to see whether the project could be re-engineered. That work started in 2019 and continued in 2020, and some of the aspects of that work mostly relating to the marketing of the power have not been concluded” stated the CEO.
“So, part of the consideration was that the project could be done under the auspices of GET FiT Hydro. But as I said the GET FIT programme itself is a government programme. It’s supported by KFW and at the moment it’s been put on hold. Therefore, the commercial considerations for the project could not be finalized,” he said.
Silavwe said, “So maybe at this stage, it suffices to say there are aspects of project viability that have not been finalized, but are still being considered. Therefore, once those have been finalized, our shareholders, just like everybody else in the nation, will be advised whether the Company will be progressing or not progressing with the project,” he indicated.
And in an emailed note to ZBT following the query on the way forward on Thursday 16 September 2021, CEC Public relations advisor Muntanga Sibalwa said there has been no material change to the information provided about the project.
“Regarding the Kabompo project, there has been no material change to the information provided about the project at our last Annual General Meeting held on April 30th 2021,” she said.
Zambia is expected to become a net power exporter after the the Kafue Gorge Lower power plant is fully commissioned by the end of 2021. Both the Luapula and Kabompo Hydro power projects are seeing as key to enable generation expansion as demand increases both in Zambia and the export market and to avoid the recurrance of power deficits that were experienced about two years ago.
