Search results

Zambia’s government announced on 19 November that it had approved the establishment of a creditworthy renewable energy intermediary power offtaker, facilitating the establishment of GreenCo in the country. The intermediary offtaker will sit between Zesco and IPPs, providing a better credit risk to banks by offering risk mitigation and the right to sell power elsewhere in the event of a default.

Talks to extend an agreement which allows Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) to buy power in bulk from Zesco for resale to mining companies have stalled as disagreements over electricity bills for Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) put further strain on an already acrimonious relationship between the two power utilities.CEC is the single biggest buyer of power from Zesco through the Bulk Supply Agreement (BSA) which expires in March 2020. CEC has been pushing to extend the agreement by 20 years to guarantee reliable supply to its customers.

Zambian IPP Mphepo Power has installed a 120-metre meteorological mast to measure the wind potential for a 200MW wind power project that it plans to develop in the Katete district of Eastern Province. The mast was launched on 1 November at a ceremony presided over by energy minister Matthew Nkhuwa. Mphepo plans to develop the Unika I wind farm in a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Energy with the support of the Office for Promoting Private Power Investment and state utility Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation.

The Ministry of Energy has granted Feasibility Study Rights (FSRs) to 22 developers within the framework of the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in-Tariff (Get FiT) Zambia small hydro tender. The ministry announced on 5 November that with the support of the Get FiT Zambia Secretariat it had evaluated 24 applications from entities that had prequalified for the tender in May 2019 and had communicated the outcome to the 22 successful entities in mid-September.

Zambia is expected to start importing 300MW of power from Eskom on 25 November after making an initial payment of $27m, with the balance of $15m expected to be paid by the end of the month. Power imports are expected to reduce load shedding by two hours a day from the current 16 hours or more.Zambia announced plans in September to import power from South Africa but the deal was delayed after Eskom demanded that Zesco pay upfront – Zambia already owes Eskom R89m ($6m) for power supplied during the 2015-2016 drought.

The Rural Electrification Authority (REA) has completed the construction of its first mini-hydropower station. The 0.64MW Kasanjiku project on the Kasanjiku River in Mwinilunga district, North Western Province, will electrify 11 schools, a mission hospital, four rural health centres, a local court and the chief’s palace, according to a statement on 7 October.

Germany’s KfW has extended grant financing totalling €41.5m ($46.6m) for the rehabilitation and expansion of the 6MW Chishimba Falls hydropower plant in Kasama District in Northern Province. The project, which involves the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing structures and the construction of a new 15MW hydropower station and associated substation, will help meet increasing energy demand in northern Zambia, which has been experiencing low voltage and power outages in recent years, KfW principal project manager Marco Freitag told African Energy.

Eskom has agreed to export 300MW of power to Zambia for the next three months to help the country tackle a worsening power supply deficit. Energy minister Matthew Nkhuwa had previously ruled out imports, saying Zambia could not afford to pay for more power, but the power deficit has jumped from 273MW in May 2019 to 690MW, owing to declining water levels in Lake Kariba and the Itezhi Tezhi dam, described by Zesco as the worst scenario in over 25 years.

Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the trading arm of Japan’s Toyota Group, announced on 30 August the signing of a memorandum of understanding at the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development for the development of two 50MW solar power projects with battery storage. The projects will be developed with Egypt’s Elsewedy Electric under an agreement signed with the Zambian Ministry of Energy. They will be located in Sesheke and Mungo and connected to the national grid. The projects are expected to be commissioned by 2021.

The US Trade and Development Agency announced on 9 August the award of a grant to Upepo Energy Zambia to fund a feasibility study for a 150MW wind, solar and energy storage hybrid power plant project in northern Zambia. The study, which will be carried out by New York-based WSP USA, will evaluate the optimal mix of on-site wind, solar and battery storage capacity to provide energy generation and services to the grid. WSP will conduct the technical and financial analysis needed to develop the project and determine its commercial viability.

Zesco cannot afford to import power to tackle shortages and will instead focus on streamlining its operations and sourcing more power from independent power producers (IPPs). Zambia faces a supply shortfall of at least 273MW after severe drought forced the Zambezi River Authority to restrict water usage from the Kariba dam.

General Electric Hydro France and Freyssinet International have signed a $53.7m contract to rehabilitate the spillway of the Kariba dam. The contract was signed on 24 May but was only announced on 1 July. The only other bidder, an Italian joint venture of CMC di Ravenna and ATB Riva Calzoni, was rejected for submitting a non-compliant bid.

Dangote Cement Zambia has agreed to start selling power to Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) to help the mining sector manage power shortages affecting Africa’s second biggest copper producer. As part of its $500m investment in Zambia’s biggest cement manufacturing plant, which came on stream in 2015, Dangote built a 30MW predominantly coal-fired thermal power plant to guarantee steady power supply. Dangote buys coal from Nava Bharat Ventures’ wholly owned Maamba Collieries Limited, whose 300MW mine-mouth power plant is the biggest in Zambia.

Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) plans to import 200MW from the Southern African Power Pool for its mining customers to make up a supply shortfall after state power utility Zesco was forced to reduce power generation at its key hydro stations.On 1 June, Zesco started restricting power supply to non-mining customers, with some households and businesses facing power cuts of up to four hours a day.

Zambia plans to select a strategic partner to run the Indeni Petroleum Refinery and take over procurement of petroleum feedstock by September this year, according to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).IDC, the holding company for state-owned enterprises, has shortlisted five companies – Glencore, China Petroleum Technology & Development Corporation, Sahara Energy Resources, a company named as Joint Stock Company Global Security of Russia, and a Chinese consortium of Beijing Huiersanji Green Chem Co and Avic International Holding Corporation.