LUSAKA – Zambia’s power utility, Zesco Ltd, announced an end to the power rationing which the country had been experiencing. Company managing director, Victor Mapani, announced at a press briefing on Thursday that households and companies countrywide will now enjoy 24 hours of power supply without any disruptions.
He said this had been made possible by various measures – which include restoration and upgrading of power generation at stations in the country, according to the state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC).
Mr Mapani said Zesco had revamped the Victoria Falls power station which is currently feeding about 20MW into the national grid.
He said generation had also been upgraded at two other stations by over 150MW and that Zesco will soon increase power generation at Lake Kariba from the current 250MW to 350MW.
Zambians had initially been hit by up to 12 hours of load shedding, which later reduced to four.
The blackouts were because of low water levels at Kariba Dam, which is used for hydroelectric generation, and routine maintenance works at Maamba Collieries whose power also feeds into the grid.
South African businesses are asking government to use Zambia as a case study and emulate the way they have handled their energy crisis to help the economy thrive. ESKOM is currently in its 16th year of loadshedding, with no visible improvement in energy infrastructure.
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