Low water levels at Kariba dam will further worsen power generating capacity in Zimbabwe and Zambia, power utilities in the two southern African countries say, with power deficits seen widening until the onset of rains in November.
Increased power deficits will hobble economic activity in the two countries. The Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe said production will go down and negate growth projections for the industry.
“The situation at Kariba is a cause for concern for us in the mining industry,” Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe president David Matyanga said last week.
Bessie Phiri, PR manager for Zambian power utility Zesco, said “the power rationing Zesco is implementing is meant to conserve the water resource so that generation of electricity from the power station can continue through to the next rainy season”.
Should the water levels at Kariba fall further, power generation will have to be stopped. The Zambezi River Authority is now rationing water available for power generation by Zambia and Zimbabwe. Phiri added that Zambia only has about 1 158 gigawatt hours available for generation from August up to December 2015.
The Zimbabwe Power Company said that the Kariba power station is faced with a possible shutdown for the next two months owing to water shortages.
It added that water levels at Kariba have gone down over 1% below the level for the same period last year.
Rains for the region normally start in November but dry conditions in the past few years could herald late rains and if this happens, the Zimbabwean and Zambian hydro power plants at Kariba will have to be shut down.
Zimbabwe has other power plants; the Hwange coal-fired power plant and smaller plants in Harare and Bulawayo bring its overall power generating capacity to 1 300 MW, still below peak demand of ± 2 000 MW.
