Zambia overhauls electricity regime as sector heats up

Acombination of drought, national utility Zesco’s balance sheet, and an alarming bill for electricity sector subsidies has persuaded the Zambian government to push ahead with a radical overhaul of its power sector. Pressure from drought is easing gradually. Energy minister David Mabumba told the National Assembly on 28 March that generation from hydropower had improved, in particular at Kafue Gorge, where available capacity had increased from 630MW to 900MW , of an installed 990MW . He put total available capacity in the country at 1,901MW , plus around 75MW imported from Karpower in Mozambique.