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After battling it out for nearly two months, ZESCO on Thursday announced an end to electricity rationing and now household and industries will enjoy 24 hours power supply.
Energy Minister Peter Kapala announced on Friday last week that the utility company plans to import power to Mozambique to cushion the impact of load shedding in the country, which affected mostly businesses and household.
According to ZESCO Managing Director Victor Mapani, the country would longer experience power outages.
Mapani told journalists in Lusaka that households and companies would now enjoy 24-hours of power supply without disruptions.
This development, Mapani said was as result of the measures undertaken by ZESCO such as restoration and upgrade of power generation at various power stations across the country.
He said the company had undertaken some work at Victoria Falls power station, currently contributing about 20 megawatts (MW) of power to the national grid.
Major upgrade works have also been undertaken at Kafue Gorge Upper and Lower Power stations by more than 150 MW.
He indicated that ZESCO would soon increase power generation at Lake Kariba from the current 250 MW to 350 MW.
“As at January 28, 2023, load shedding was reduced to four hours. This significant improvement has been occasioned by increased power generation output at the other power stations namely the Kafue Gorge and Kafue Gorge lower that have yielded a total additional 210 MW as a result of increased water inflows in Kafue basin,” Mapani said.
Mapani said the anticipated upgrade was due to the increase in water levels in the Kariba dam.
He said plans were underway to start the importation of about 120 MW from Mozambique once negotiations are completed.
“Therefore, in the medium term ZESCO is focused on expanding its power generation mix by investing in other renewable energy sources, bring solar and wind.
“The corporation targets to on board a renewable energy mix composed of a minimum of 800 MW of solar energy, 500MW of wind energy, 500 MW of hydro in the next 10 years,” Mapani said.
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