Cape Town - The authority that manages southern Africa’s biggest dam has ordered the suspension of power generation activities at the country’s main hydro plant due to dwindling water levels.
The Zambezi River Authority on Sunday ordered the suspension until January of electricity generation at the Kariba Dam, which supplies power to the Zimbabwean utility, until January due to water shortages.
The authority’s chief executive, Munyaradzi Munodawafa, said in a letter to the Zimbabwe Power Company, that the dam simply no longer had any usable water to continue undertaking power generation operations.
The decision by the authority will no doubt have a negative impact on the country, which is already battling to keep the lights on.
Zimbabweans are being urged to use electricity sparingly, as the country’s electricity grid remained constrained.
In September, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company said due to depressed generation on the grid coupled by increased electricity demand as a result of increased economic activities, the grid remained under pressure.
The Kariba Dam, which is a double curvature concrete arch dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi River basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe, supplies more than 60% of the country’s electricity, while many Zimbabweans are already battling with up to 12 hours a day without electricity.
The Lake level has been decreasing steadily on account of low inflows from the mainstream Zambezi River and its tributaries, closing the period under review at 476.09m (4.12% usable storage) on November 28, compared to 479.09m (25.21% usable storage) recorded on the same date last year, according to the authority.
The Kariba Lake is designed to operate between levels 475.50m and 488.50m (with 0.70m freeboard) for hydropower generation.
The Kariba South power station produces 1 050 megawatts of electricity, but has been producing much less due to low water levels in the dam.
In March this year, Mozambique’s publicly owned electricity company, EDM and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority renewed the bilateral agreement for power supply, over the next three years, under which EDM will provide 50 Megawatts of energy to the neighbouring country.
In July, authorities announced that Zimbabwe would begin receiving 100MW from Zambia’s state-owned power utility Zesco beginning August, under a five-year deal.
IOL