The Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) has suspended the export of power to neighbouring countries due to the current electricity deficit the country is facing.
ZESCO Spokesperson Henry Kapata told ZANIS in Lusaka today that the company will only resume power exports when it has excess electricity.Mr. Kapata explained that ZESCO cannot be irrational as to export power when it is rationing electricity supply to the Zambian people because of the serious shortage.
He said this in reaction to concerns from some members of the public that the power utility company was still exporting electricity to neighbouring countries when the local people were not satisfied with the supply.
Mr. Kapata argued that those accusing ZESCO of exporting power were misleading the citizens.Lusaka and many other parts of the country have lately been experiencing load shedding of up to eight hours in a day.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kapata has denied allegations that industries located in residential areas experience load shedding from 06:00 hours to 22:00 hours.
He stated that industries situated in residential areas only experience load shedding from 22:00 hours to 06: 00 hours when the townships where they are located in are loadshedded.
The ZESCO Spokesperson further explained that Zambia was a signatory to other countries in terms of power sharing and that the nation only does so when it has enough and that only the surplus will be exported to those countries in need .
He reiterated that the current power deficit situation has been caused by the low water levels at the Kafue Gorge power station.Mr. Kapata has since appealed to the people of Zambia bear with the power utility company as the situation was not permanent.
Stop lying to us, we know exactly what is going on.
ZESCO is the most useless company in Zambia. They had Father Bwalya as Board Chairman. Honestly what would you expect of such a company. I have said before and I will say it again, what we are seeing is the beginning of the demise of Zambian companies being run by shameless, not fit for purpose and clueless PF cadres. In fact PF=Power Failure
Zambia is a failed state… give the land back to the traiditional rulers,,,, headmen can do better than lungu and disciples
shuwa shuwa!!,,,, how can zambia be operating on malasha charcoal??? when lungu is busy getting drank
They just want to win tomorrow’s bye elections (Malambo, Mulobezi & Petauke) at all costs especially now that even CBU is on ‘fire’ it means CBU riots coupled with loadshedding is pure negative political publicity! Come Wednesday 01/07/2015 loadshedding is resumed!
WHEN CROOKS AND CRIMINALS RULED OUR COUNTRY! WE HAVE SEEN IT ALL UNDER PF CROOKED GOVERNMENT. AND LUNGU HAS ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE ON HOW TO RUN THIS GREAT NATION. WHY CAN’T THIS GUY SIMPLY STEP DOWN?
Is it after HH raised issue of misplaced priorities that ZESCO notices it is hurting the citizenry thus suspends power exports?
cant wait till maamba collieries coal power plant is linked into the grid in December cant trust Zesco anymore and we need more diverse source of power hydro is too affected by the season and poor investment/maintence by Zesco
The PF (Power Failure) govt has announce that Zambia has run out of wind and sunshine so they can not invest in alternate sources of power. Total Cimbwi no Plan.
@ Copperbullet the rest of the country will have to wait until the valley is completely electrified. The Kariba Dam that displaced a lot of people has since its establishment brought no tangible benefits to the valley, very few places have electricity as most of it passes overhead to service the plateau. In all fairness let the Maamba plant first service the area.
“Mr. Kapata has since appealed to the people of Zambia bear with the power utility company as the situation was not permanent.”
……..RIGHT…RAIN IS AROUND THE CORNER!!!!
Which rain is around the corner iwe muntu?
WHAT ABOUT MOZAMBIQUE ISSUE? HAVE YOU ALSO CANCELLED IT?
This is proof of the total incompetence of this useless PF government!
Kapata is telling us no power will be exported AT THE SAME TIME Lungu is promising Mozambique power!
Are these people just styupit or mad as well?
Water levels in the Kariba or Kafue Gorge can only normalize in March/ April 2016. Assuming the 2015/16 rainy season in normal. if we have another bad rainy season in terms of rainfall figures then we are in big trouble….!
You are right ! The question that arises, is anyone planning for such a possible calamity?
It’s amazing that the ZESCO spokesperson is not aware of the seriousness of the situation. Our Energy mix is skewed towards 95% Hydro and during times of draught, we have no other options but to load shed.
He is therefore being disingenuous by stating that the problem is temporary . The state of affairs require a statement by the president or the Minister of Energy.
Sometimes its better to keep quiet than expose one’s ignorance when you dont understand what you are talking about. Which ofvyou loud mouthed id1ots support ZESCO when it asks for a cost reflective tariff to attract more investment in power generation?
You cant have it both ways. You resist tariff increment whenever ZESCO applies to ERB and at the same time you want expensive alternative sources of power when reality dawns on you. As long as the tariff remains below par, ZESCO will generate using the cheapest means, hydro, and when you insult even the innocent men and women at ZESCO, GOD will punish you in this manner, low rainfall.
So ba opposition, repent and maybe God will be kind to give us enough water to generate.
So dont comment on issues you least understand. HH is dead…
kapata wilapepa iwe kamalinso.. you are exporting power period… i have an insider telling me apa so ati you are busy exporting power to fund your ka broke PF govt to pay civil servants salaries.. ala iwe..we all know that countries around us are in dare need of power and they pay well than zambia so,.. your are ****ing exporting man. we know.
kapata you are a fake.. hell sent to lie to us.. you are exporting power just admit…exporting power to fund this ka broke PF.
Yes PF exporting power to raise money for next year’s elections. The nation has no money. Zambia is broke and these are desperate measures to find money.
“ZESCO Spokesperson Henry Kapata told ZANIS in Lusaka today that the company will only resume power exports when it has excess electricity….
“Mr. Kapata argued that those accusing ZESCO of exporting power were misleading the citizens.”
Kekekkekekekekek !!!!!Any one notice the contradition?
Besides that, when was the last time there was sufficient power supply in Zambia??? Let alone excess!!!
When did zesco ever have excess electricity, si tawi ya kaunda? These guys are exporting power. That’s why there is a sudden up surge in loadsheddin. I expect to have 2 hours of power per day by the end of this year.
That cannot be true, ZESCO needs exports to sustain itself. ZESCO must be bold and admit to the Zambian public that tariffs need be hiked not at the current ratio of 2 units for K1. Perhaps at 2:2 or 2:3.
We know what is happening! Edgar has auctioned power to South Africa for his elections.
We are not stupid people-did Edgar pray for the rains we had? This is not his personal to holder country, days are numbered…..
The article says zesco has suspended exporting of power. Comments which I have just read are all misplaced. If you just jump to reading the comments minus reading the story you might think like zesco is exporting power. Very useless bloggers. Can you go back to prep and do you home. Make sure no watching tv tonight you clowns
How can I do my homework in the dark?
No watching TV, no Zesco power for the TV set!
Thanks PF
If you jumps the article and goes straight to reading the comments might think that zesco is exporting power when in fact the opposite is truth. All the above comments are misplaced and lack logic. Can you clowns go back to prep and do your home work and make when you get home no watching tv tonight.
The Tongas think HH will ensure that rainfall will be constant. Everything is PF and EL. Look into your aisles if not ass holes and think properly. This is why HH will never rule because he jumps on anything and insult us that we are Chimbwi with no plan. We shall see who will cry next year as our chimbwi with no plan will be in plot one while Hypnotized Hyena with the so claimed but unworkable plan will suffer 5th defeat.
HH is the man, ZWD is the news, they highlighted this thus pre-empting Pf again.
The problem if Zambian blogs is serious lack of reasoning. People debate with a lot anger, hunger, bitterness,emotion with Zero thinking. Whoever said PF built any hydro power no one knows. PF now can control the weather. The problem with power in Zambia is not the problem of PF alone. It was created by UNIP for not focusing, MMD for not building anything and now PF no amount of malice, bitterness or anger will resolve this. Not even some of you who see HH as your Saviour will resolve it. We are also part of the problem for not using alternative energy such as solar or gas. They are doing it in Botswana before you bitter people insult me.
And insult you we shall. leka first ndye breakfast ya tea na bread. why shouldnt i be angry when am lied to for such a long time. Man can only take so much. If you stop being angry ninshi you have become indifferent to our coutry’s social, economic setup. some of us love our country so much, that chilatukalipa when we make contracts with politicians who go against their word once elected.
Oooh, i almost forgot ukukufolesha insult yobe ya lelo, seeing that you are expecting it. Here goes: Chakuti chako………………………
@kci, the solar power you talk about needs awares programmes and inicetive by GRZ. PF are so hopeless and busy stealing, they just leave it up to the citizens to use their inicetive.
KCI you are 100% correct, this problem is not solely PF’s to heap blame on. But they have been part of the problem and unfortunately for them they are in the hot seat now that the problem is manifesting itself.
The problem I have is that we have companies who have tabled proposals for solar farms and thermal powerstations, all they need is the Govt. to help facilitate their implementation. Yet they don’t they sit on the proposals and do nothing.
Tete province in Mozambique has the largest coal deposits in the World and they are right next door. That very coal is transported thousands of miles across the world to power thermal power stations, yet we can’t bring it across the Zambezi??
@Whisper. Zambia does not need to import coal from anywhere because it has vast coal reserves of its own. In fact there is a 300 MW thermal power station under construction using this same coal at Maamba through private investment which will rise to 600 MW. Although thermal power stations produce GHG and are being used unabated in the USA, China, India and South Africa, among others, it is still desirable to have some thermal power stations generating electricity in Zambia’s energy mix to combat the effect of drought which it experiences from time to time. The largest GHG emitters are China, USA and India. China and India are reluctant to stop using coal because they want to develop like the West did using coal.
If Zesco had been exporting power and its good that they have stopped now, in view of our situation, why then has the slogan for Zesco been powering the nation instead of powering the nations. It is the duty of Zesco to think outside the box and see what alternative forms of energy they would venture in. RB tried solar geysers, just one of them. Zesco, you are an electricity supply organisation and not a hydro electricy supply organisation. Change your mindset , and dont just say the situation is not permanent – How? It could be permanent!!! Do you have a forecast for the next rain season or you have find alternative sources – importing nuclear power to power the nation from Iran, not a bad idea.
There are still some countries outside the region with power. Import this power even at a higher price and increase the fares, we will pay. All we want is life not to grind to a halt
We have serious power probems and the man in charge is talking about extending his term beyond 2016. Vima problems mbwe, and people as usual are politicing talking about a non existing debate of RB having been swindled of his term. Can you talk about the power deficit and what you are doing, though we know you are not doing anything
I think the objective question is that, is load shedding going to reduce with the banning of exportation of power to neighboring countries.
Concerned Monk.
Yes,lets import from even outside the region, We are aware that we have a deficit in the southern african region. Import the power even from countries further from our region and motivate for temporal increment of tarrifs for us to have power. ERB should be able to agree to the temporal hike since the Zesco spokesman says the situation is not permanent. Revert to normal tarrifs once we are back, otherwise productivity will be heavily affected with the current situation. My suggestion may not be the best but in short, Zesco do something
Although solar energy is plentiful it is still expensive compared to fossil fuel whereas this could have been sorted out if enough money was invested in research and development in solar. Despite evidence of extreme climate change in California and Brazil, where water reservoirs have run dry and yet the rainy season is four months away, heat waves in India and Pakistan, extreme floods elsewhere, our own drought in Zambia in the 2014/15 rainy season, the shrinking of the Arctic ice cap and other disasters too numerous to mention, some people cannot still see the connection between the almost unabated emissions of GHG and extremes of climate.
Zesco should also control its payroll costs during this time. Kaili there will be no work since there will be no power.
Actually, ZESCO has an overload of staff!!
10 niggas cramped at the back of a Land Cruiser, but meanwhile, only 3 are doing the work, when they reach site!!!
We were reliably informed that the cause of low rainfall was an Act of God and the blame could not be attributed to any human factors.
Conversely, whether the low rainfall pattern will continue in the future can only be determined by God.
How does a human then decide that the load-shedding will not be permanent ?
It is a serious contradiction !!
Pope Francis in his encyclical about climate change has aroused a lot of interest from people with some saying that let him stick to religion and leave science to scientist forgetting that he was a chemist before being ordained. “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.” “The rich and powerful shut themselves up within self-enclosed enclaves compulsively consuming the latest goods to feed the emptiness within their hearts, while ignoring the plight of the poor.” “The problem is aggravated by a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels.” If present trends continue, the changing climate will have grave implications for poor communities who lack the resources to adapt or protect themselves from natural disasters.
mr kapata is very good at press , anyway who knows if someone says zesco suspends export , in fact nothing has changed , its just a press !???? we shall observe if load shed has significantly reduced countrywide .
The normal arrangement at Itezhitezhi Dam is that water is released through the main spillway to Kafue Gorge Power to generate power. In dry years the water level is so low that it cannot be released through the main spillway. It is then released through what is called bottom outlet or level outlet to Kafue Gorge. The new power station is I ASSUME being constructed on the low level out and to allow construction in the dry it must have also been temporarily closed. So there is no water coming out of Itezhitezhi Dam until the water level rises again. So ZESCO have shot itself in the foot. Bloggers at ITT please confirm whether there is water at the main spillway.
@Senior Engineer RTD, no knowledge is dangerous, so is half truths and half knowledge; even more dangerous is rumour mongering.
What about contractual obligations on ZESCO’s part.
Ever heard of force majeure i.e unexpected circumstance such as war that can be used as an excuse when they prevent somebody from meeting contractual obligations?
ZESCO used to be a well run company but now it is run by cadres who have no clue what they are supposed to be doing. Efficiency has been sacrificed. In the past when one had a problem with power it was expected that they would turn up at any time. Now they knock off and even those on duty are not bothered. Take for example you have a problem with your prepaid meter you will not be dealt with if it happens around 16 hrs because the team knocks off at 17hrs.
It is a sham!
Can someone tell me why these fools, should be voted in power, if the cannot even put their house in order?
All we need is changed, twachula muno, kulibamukukulu.