The current power interruptions are likely to reduce next month, as Zambia’s Energy Minister Peter Kapala has said the country’s power utility, ZESCO, will next month commence the exportation of 100MW electricity to Zimbabwe under a five-year deal.
In a statement published on his Facebook page, Kapala said electricity from the Kafue Gorge Lower will be exported to Zimbabwe and Namibia through contracts signed in the last few months.
Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) Acting Managing Director Howard Choga recently told local media that ZESA must pay monthly deposits of US$6.3 million to access electricity from Zambia.
“We signed power import deals with Zambia a long time ago, but we had not been getting electricity from that country because of cash flow challenges.
“Now, because we have prepaid, we expect this to be settled in the coming weeks, and we will start receiving 100MW from Zambia. We have to prepay them a month before we receive the electricity,” he said.
The Zimbabwe Power Company – ZESA’s power generation arm is currently producing 1 201MW at its five power stations, against peak winter season demand of 2 200MW.
This has caused increased power cuts lasting for hours, which have negatively impacted farming, manufacturing, mining and retail sectors as well as households.