Zambia’s power utility company ZESCO has clarified that the 300 Megawatts (MW) new line Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya power interconnector is intended to have the capacity to transmit 300 Megawatts of electricity, rather than importing that amount.
Speaking in a recent exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, ZESCO spokesperson Matongo Maumbi refuted claims that the ZESCO will import that amount of electricity adding that the 300 MW is the potential amount the line can carry once completed.
This is after reports emerged that ZESCO will be importing 300 MW of electricity from Tanzania after the completion of the construction of a new line in the next Nine months.
Maumbi emphasized that the 300 megawatts are based on the potential that the line can carry, and discussions about the amount to be spent on the construction are still ongoing.
The company has established a special department to expedite the construction of a new line with the potential to import 300 Megawatts of electricity from Tanzania within the next nine months.
Asked about the selection of a contractor to undertake the construction works, Maumbi mentioned that this aspect is still under negotiation and has not yet been finalized.
He said the timeline for negotiations and commencement of the construction remains uncertain further confirming that the process of finalizing financial and other details for the project could take weeks or months.
Asked if this project is expected to deal with the current power crisis, Maumbi said, “On the current crisis is very doubtful because we are talking 9 months when the works start, so if the works start in October that will be from October up to 9 months and if it starts in July, then that will be 9 months from that month as an initial expected time frame to complete that. but in the shortest term “no” will not have any bearing as this is for a long-term kind of measure.”
“The 300 megawatts which was mentioned is for the potential that the line can carry not necessarily that we will be importing that amount but that we can import that kind of power when that line is complete.”
“So the financial details and other details have not yet concluded and when they conclude then we will share the financial details and the actual time frame in terms of after agreeing with the contract.
“I can’t tell when the negotiations will conclude because these are big contracts and government contracts take quite weeks and months but we hope that with the crisis that we have the process will be shortened or will be made faster, but consultations have advanced and we hope that within next month we have better updates.” He said.
