Zambia’s state-owned electricity company, ZESCO Limited, commissioned the 750 MW Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower plant in late April.
The $2 billion power project is located on the Kafue River in Chikankata District, Southern Province. The project includes a 140-meter-tall concrete-faced rockfill or roller-compacted-concrete dam and a power plant with five 150 MW turbine-generator units.
“I wish to clearly state that before today’s event, Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower plant was operating on one generating unit from the initially planned five following the suspension of works by the main contractor due to outstanding payments. This meant that the country could only utilize 150 megawatts or a fifth of the total generating capacity,” said ZESCO Managing Director Victor Mapani.
In July 2021, the government celebrated commissioning of the first unit at the station.
Mapani said ZESCO managed to complete the remaining 600 MW due to its ability to raise its own finances, create workable solutions and implement an effective network system. “This success is owed to a strong system that we have developed as a company which resulted in the corporation managing to finance the completion of three generating units within six months.”
Republican President Hakainde Hichilema said energy remains key to the New Dawn Government’s agenda for economic transformation and is essential to accelerating Zambia’s rise to prominence as a regional hub for manufacturing and processing. He said the government remains committed to developing renewable energy solutions like solar power plants. “However, hydropower plants will continue to provide base-load while realizing the requisite energy mix to attain a resilient power system which is immune to climatic shocks,” he said.
