The Itezhi Tezhi Hydropower Project (ITHP) that is capable of supplying 120MW of power generated to ZESCO has confirmed that the company is only generating 80MW due to low water levels.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT – ITHP Chief Executive Officer Moses Mbuta said this is due to low amount of water in the reservoir lake and river.
Mbuta said the current produced 80MW of power is being supplied to ZESCO and could not mention how much power is supplied per megawatt.
Mbuta said because of the variable of low water levels in reservoirs, the company is unable to produce at full capacity and be able to challenge the rising demand of power.
“Even if there is demand, if the water is not enough, there is nothing else that we can do as we can only generate according to the water that is there.” We are in the season when we are filling in the reservoir and going forward because of the water which is increasing, will also start increasing the generation
He said the trend cannot be curbed because of low rainfall that has been seen in the recent passed which he said is a natural cause.
Zambia is still grappling with constrained electricity generation from hydro power due to what a lot of producers are referring to below water levels in the reservoirs.
According to electricity producers, there are low water levels in major rivers on which dams have been constructed to generate electricity a situation which has resulted in less power generation in the country.
Mbuta said the company is however trying by all means to ensure that generation is at full capacity and support the State owned power Utility Company ZESCO in this era of load shedding.
Already Zambia is rationing electricity to domestic and commercial users. Earlier, the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited ZESCO, imposed a 12 hours (divided in two) power cuts at various times of the day to save water in the dams of the reservoirs.
The hours of load shedding have since been officially reduced from 12 hours a day to 8 hours a day, though some high density residential areas insist that the hours of load shedding are way beyond the half day announced. Some areas say ZESCO has been using the excuse of routine maintenance works to cut power for over half a day.
Meanwhile, experts have said that the lack of reliable power is hitting Zambia’s economy as people struggle to make a living without electricity for half a day even as the power utility continues to export. Jobs mostly in the local small and medium enterprises – SMEs are at risk of being lost with some local businesses facing eminent closure.
