Zimpapers Logo

Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has put a ceiling of daily output at Kariba Hydropower Station to 475 megawatts from the recent winter peak of 705MW due to lower dam water levels.

This will worsen electricity shortages in the country.

At the moment, Zimbabwe is generating about 1,300MW daily against demand of 2,200MW.

As of yesterday, ZPC indicated that Zimbabwe was producing 1,197MW.

In a statement, ZPC said the lake level was five metres below the previous year’s level of 485.91 metres above sea level.

In the 2014/15 hydrological year, Lake Kariba, ZPC said, received lower water inflows compared to the 2013/14 season and the long-term mean inflows.

“This, coupled with high generation at the Kariba complex, has resulted in the lake level continuing to decline. The lake level at the end of July 2015 was 480.81 metres above sea level. This is 1.05 percent or five metres below the lake level for the same period in 2014 which was at 485.91 metres above sea level,” said ZPC.

ZPC said it has been determined that continuing at current levels of power generation would result in the lake falling below the minimum drawdown level of 475.5 metres before the onset of the next rainy season in November 2015, with a possible shutdown of the station for two months.

The power company said the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA), an agency jointly controlled by Zimbabwe and Zambia with which it shares the lake, had reduced the water allocation to the two countries’ power utilities for generation purposes.

“ZRA have re-run the simulation to determine the remaining allocation and recommended level of generation of each utility going forward as 350MW for Kariba North (Zambia) and 475MW for Kariba South (Zimbabwe).”

ZPC said it would work on reaching maximum generation capacity, which currently averages 700MW, during peak periods, but output would be reduced remarkably outside the peak periods.

Meanwhile, through a $500 million Chinese loan facility, the Kariba South expansion project is being undertaken to add 300MW by the first quarter of 2018.