Africa-Press – Zambia. Energy minister Peter Kapala says the load management of ZESCO power that will kick in on December 15 as a result of reduced water levels in the shared Lake Kariba is estimated to only last four months.
Delivering a ministerial statement on the reduced water levels at Lake Kariba in Parliament on Friday, Kapala said the government is nonetheless instituting measures to reduce the impact from the forthcoming six-hour load-shedding of ZESCO power necessitated by reduced water levels in the Kariba Dam, and as directed by the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA).
“I wish to thank you for this opportunity to give a
Ministerial Statement on the hydrology situation at the Kariba Dam, and more importantly, the measures we are undertaking to mitigate the impact on low power
generation threat,” Kapala said. “During the year 2022, the Lake’s water level has been decreasing steadily on account of low inflows from the mainstream Zambezi River and its tributaries.”
Furthermore, Kapala said the situation has been worsened due to the overutilization of water for sustained power generation which has resulted in low water levels at Lake Kariba.
“As of 28th November 2022, the Kariba lake water levels stood at 476.09m above sea level, representing only 4.12%of usable water storage for power generation.The low water level situation in the Lake Kariba
threatens the power generation for both the Kariba North Bank Hydropower station (Zambian side) and Kariba South Bank Hydropower station (Zimbabwean side),” he announced. “It is projected that if the current power generation and
subsequent water utilization continues, the remaining water for power generation at the Kariba complex, also referred to as live storage,will not be sufficient for power generation beyond mid-December 2022.” Therefore, Kapala said, the government will take measures to address the situation.
“We anticipate that based on the water levels, this will translate into a load management regime starting on 15th December 2022 of up to a maximum of six (6) hours daily until the water levels improve,” said Kapala. “Against this background, there is need to implement
measures aimed at rationing the water in the lake in order to avoid a complete shutdown of electricity generation activities at the Kariba Complex.The proposed measures will be phased and revisited from time to time over the next four (4) months in order to ensure security of electricity supply and mitigate the impact on the economy.”
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