ZESA Braces For “Super” El Niño Threat To Kariba Power Generation

ZESA Holdings says it is putting measures in place to mitigate possible power supply disruptions from the impact of a projected “super” El Niño on the Kariba hydroelectric power station.

Speaking at the Zimbabwe Industrialisation Conference (ZICE 2026) last week, ZESA interim chief executive Cletus Nyachowe said the utility was carefully co-managing water usage at Lake Kariba with Zambia’s power utility, ZESCO.

In southern Africa, El Niño weather patterns typically trigger severe droughts, higher temperatures and below-normal rainfall across the Zambezi River basin, reducing water inflows into major reservoirs and negatively affecting power generation.

“We are carefully managing the water consumption this year between us and ZESCO of Zambia, and we will close the year at about 24 per cent, which is quite a strong storage for us to go into next year,” said Nyachowe.

Meanwhile, in an update on Monday, 27 July, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) said the lake level continues to recede gradually, in line with seasonal hydrological expectations for this time of year.

The usable live storage volume currently stands at 30.51 billion cubic metres (BCM), compared to 15.35 BCM on 27 July 2025.

Usable live storage for power generation currently sits at 47.08 percent, compared to 23.68 percent on the same date last year.