The Energy Forum-Zambia has expressed sadness at the heightening attacks on President Edgar Lungu from some section of society over the proposed electricity connectivity of a ZESCO power line from Pensulo area in Serenje district to North east of Mozambique.
During President Lungu’s bilateral talks with his Mozambican counterpart President Filipe Nyusi last week, the issue of the potential export of electricity to Mozambique was among the topics discussed.
Forum chairperson Johnstone Chikwanda said Zambians must be aware that ZESCO has had a history of exporting electricity to some countries in the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) during off peak hours.
Mr. Chikwanda said countries in the southern region export excess electricity to one another during off peak hours in order to mitigate the energy poverty the region is experiencing.
He added that it would be imprudent not to sell any excess power at a premium to anyone who wants it.
He has since encouraged Zambians to migrate to energy saving products and understand that currently, there is load shedding in Africa including in more developed countries such as South Africa.
Mr. Chikwanda said the forum supports government’s efforts to seize electricity export opportunities as and when there is capacity to do so.
He has however expressed sadness that Zambia has not effectively used the energy sector in the last 50 years.
He pointed out that if the country had effectively used the energy sector, it could have been a leading exporter of electricity due its hydropower generation arbitrage.
Mr. Chikwanda has further appealed to the government to continue with efforts aimed at improving the energy mix so that the economy depends less on hydro power generation.
And Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has expressed concern at the heavy load shedding which the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) has introduced.
ZCTU Secretary General Cosmas Mukuka said the increased load shedding will have a negative impact on national development.
Mr. Mukula said economic development will be hampered by the load shedding because factories and other production outlets will close down leading to low production.
Mr. Mukuka observed that massive load shedding will affect production in the mining sector and operations of traffic management system and hospitals.
He has since called on those in authority not to down play the effects of load shedding on national development.
Mr. Mukuka explained that the increased power blackout is encouraging the use of charcoal which will eventually lead to deforestation.
He was speaking during the press beefing in Lusaka yesterday.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mukuka has appealed to government to intervene in the industrial unrest at Copperbelt, Mulungushi and University of Zambia.
He said government should not wait for the situation to get worse before intervening.
Mr. Mukuka has therefore urged the parties to these grievances at these institutions to dialogue in order to secure results.
And Mr. Mukuka has said ZCTU was worried by the non-commencement of negotiations between the public sector and government.
He bemoaned the slow pace at which preparations for negotiations were going.
Mr. Mukuka said it was the ZCTU’s expectation that the salary negotiation should be concluded before the budget presentation to parliament.
However, Mr. Mukuka has called on government to reduce borrowing by extending the tax base and formalise the informal economy and also reduce the number of deputy ministers.
He disclosed that ZCTU was further concerned with the increased rate of borrowing because government has not indicated which area of the development sector was in dire need of funds.
Last week, parliament endorsed government’s decision to increase the amount of external loans from K35 billion to K60 billion.
Another Chikwanda! Isn’t it sickening to declare that Zambia is enjoying power cuts like the rest of Southern Africa when we have over 40% of the water resources in the region? And what is clever about exporting power at a premium when Zambian businesses have no power half of each day? Can Zesco’s expected profits compensate for the impending layoffs and losses in the private sector?
Please first look at the submissions not at the name. Suppose HH became president are you going to kill all the Chikwandas.
These water resources have to be filled every year through rainfall. This is why they are renewable but unfortunately the rains are not enough this year. The answer is coal which is not affected by the vagaries of nature in our energy mix.
That comedian in the name of Father Frank Bwalya, a PF (power failure) cadre was Board Chairman at ZESCO 3 years ago. The black outs we are experiencing are part of his strategic plan while he was boss at ZESCO. What is happening at ZESCO will soon happen at other sate run companies run by PF cadres. PF are full of excuses, water is not the only source of electricity. Now they will say wind, sun and coal has also dried out. A thermal plant take 18 months to build , how long have these clueless failures been in power?
STUPID POLITICIANS! YOU KEEP REFERRING TO EXCESS POWER WHEN FACTS ARE THAT THE WHOLE COUNTRY EXPERIENCES BLACK-OUTS ALL YEAR ROUND AND EVERY BLESSED YEAR BECAUSE OF POWER DEFICITS. WHEN IT SUITS THESE GLUTTONS, THEY TWIST THINGS JUST LIKE THIS ONE WHO IS NOW BUSY CLAIMING WE HAVE EXCESS POWER. AS LONG AS THIEVES RUN OUR COUNTRY, WE ARE HEADING NO WHERE GENTLEMEN. MARK MY WORD!
Whether there has been a precedence to export power during off-peak hours it still doesn’t make it right or justify the logic to deny the masses access to power. Satisfy the local demand first before you can speak of exporting. The fact that we are failing to exploit solar energy which is free and in abundance leaves me with bitter taste in my mouth.
The problem with electric power is that it cannot be stored like we do with other things. The only way to achieve is to scaled down production. As a result, when you have excess supply during off peak hours it only makes sense to sale it and buy it back during your peak periods. The power problems Zambia are facing at the moment are as a result of the following:
1. Delayed investment in new generation capacity of the years.
2. Lack of investment in alternative sources such solar. In some cases due to cost issues.
3. Population growth and increased establishment of new residential settlements.
4. Abuse of the Zesco cash flow by government.
5. Poor rainfall in the last season.
6. Increased demand in source countries such as RSA and DRC.
I don’t get it when people being paid to serve the public become so defensive instead of finding lasting solutions. All these chairmen, spokes persons, you name it, have to protect the presidents. Lungu is the president and he is old enough to reply to his critics. It’s like saying, my performance doesn’t matter, let me please my boss Lungu first. How can we export power that we don’t have? Obama has press people but on national issues he will address his people.
Lungu has got time to go and open a shopping mall when CBU students are rioting, there is extreme load shedding…….that same Mall will need power and goods to be sold in its stalls. Lungu has picked up bad traits off RB. His role has been reduced to cutting ribbons. Change your strategy.
I hate it and find it nonsensical when somebody starts to justify zesco problem by comparing with situations in other countries. “Even in South Africa there is Loadshedding”. This is a stupi.d missplaced comparison.
animal farm the pigs started drinking milk
Ba PF dont take this ZESCO isssue lightly. Businesses are being affected badly. What kind of development is this when we are being taken backwards as if we are in the village. This will cost you the trust of the people. I personally am thinking twice about voting for PF again.
If you voted PF into power, I personaly won’t take you seriously. With Sata at the helm, you didn’t see all this coming ?
Am just from ZPPA at great cost and for the second day running and I still can’t submit my application because there’s no power. What a bunch of jokers these P.F goons are!
It is only a demented mind that can accuse the PF for ZESCO to depend only water for power generation. ZESCO has been in existence for many years even longer than some lunatics blogging here. Fortunately even my old grand mother in the village fully appreciates the situation. Shame on you pseudo intellectuals.
The problem we have in this country is that we have armchair critics who make comments on issues they have zero data on. the problems of power we have today were not created yesterday. Power investments projects take years and it’s not like u are buying a small equipment and simply install it to generate electricity. it takes a number years for that to happen. Zesco approached GRZ in the early 1990s after studying energy demands projections. it was anticipated that there will be shortages by 2004 and that projects like Kafue Lower (750MW) and Itezhi (120MW) must be started so that they be commissioned b4 2004. that advice fell on deaf ears of bena FTJ. Now today u want current Zesco mgt to create miracles………
Zambia will continue to have problems unless we realize very quickly, that we do not have managerial skills generally, and secondly, we have wrong people who are posing as managers. The very criteria for selecting people to any managerial positions is often attached to corrupt practices, while higher institutions of learning teaching such skills are often more theoretical than otherwise. Yes indeed, why should we have problems with water management, when we have plenty of water? Why are we not talking about alternative power sources. A manageress nation indeed!
So far you are the only one who is focussed. Yes we have made mistakes and wise people learn from mistakes. Let the government listen to such advice and act instead of dwelling in the past. 50 years on and we are still playing the blame and excuses game.
The problem I have found with these so called energy gurus is that they think it’s only them who have monopoly of knowledge in energy. They feel it’s only their opinion which matters. Sadly, these guys are not providing any solutions other than throwing up outdated statistics from CSO. To add insult to injury, these vocal guys are not even based in Zambia. They all have one characteristic in common, i.e limelight. You can see from their engagement on social media that it’s all for their own recognition. Sit down, alaaa!
Indeed if they were that intelligent they could have invented something to show for their boasting. I have seen Ghanaians who have ventured in IT related businesses in international magazines. Not our Zambians they are only good at inventing insults and lies without offering tangible solutions.
The level of ignorance of some Zambians is amazing!
Look here, Zambia has no power to export to Mozambique now. The President is aware of that and is not so reckless as to export power to Mozambique with the dire situation that we are faced with now. What is being discussed are future prospects for power exports when we build more power stations or when our water situation improves. If Zambia happens to have more power in the future than what it needs, wouldn’t you like to earn some export revenue? Isn’t that what we call diversification of exports? Come on you “some Zambians”, think with your heads for a change, not with your political party!
What is true though is that we need additional power stations like yesterday.
What you are talking about my brother @ Terrible is nonsensical, haven’t you read articles by Zesco revealing that Zesco has been exporting power to neighboring countries during off-peak hours? Why defend the indefensible? The truth is out there from Zesco itself. The Mozabique issue is a dead issue because everyone knows that those are plans for the future. People with brains are discussing the current situation trying to find a solution to the problem since Zambia has been on auto pilot for a long time now.
I agree with peter 100%. Like I also said in response to another article, our problems as a country will continue as long as all senior positions in all govt ministries/depts remain politically appointed. Professionals need to be at the helm of for the country to move forward.
The Author should have researched before wasting valuable ink. The fact is that ZESCO has requested mines to load shed as below:
110 Mega Watts From 00:00 to 04:49hrs
180 Mega Watts From 05:00 to 09:59hrs
240 Mega Watts From 10:00 to 17:59hrs
40 Mega Watts From 18:00 to 20:59hrs
140 Mega Watts From 21:00 to 00:00hrs
As you can see in the current crisis have no room to export unless ZESCO are not telling us on the mines the truth.
Ba Chikwanda, nabakula, he is not reasoning properly.
Do we have excess power to export? We don’t seem to have enough power for domestic use and people are talking about exporting excess electricity!
I don’t know who believes this story of load shedding due to low water levels. In the past Zambia has had droughts and this of course affected water levels so how come we never used to have load shedding?
The notion that Zambia is compelled to dispose of some of its hydro generated power because it generates excess to requirement during off-peak hours, does not make sense. Water flow into the Turbines is controlled to produce required output. The peaks and troughs on the demand graph would easily guide you on what optimum power to generate at any given time with very reasonable tolerance.
So, what exactly is Chairperson JC trying to say here? Is Zambia doing ‘ichilimba’ with its neighbours through SAPP or what? Just come clean and say so. Its not a bad thing if others are pitching in also into this regional energy pool, just inform the Nation with credible figures and reason, why its worth it even when Zambia is suffering peacefully with excessive load-shedding.
Upnd overseas members see only a jungle in Africa just like Europeans who have never been to Africa. You think by social media scandalizing other people will win you an election
On a serious note, whatever the cause, this load shedding in our Country is not going away anytime soon. So, we definitely need to look at ENERGY STORAGE as we go into the future. This involves every one of us with property in Zambia. This can obviously be at homestead level, community level, company level, and National level. Nothing new in this as some already know and have made inroads already, because its being done in other Countries, like here in UK. So no need to re-invent the wheel. Put in simple terms, we collect back-up water in various containers and household overhead Tanks etc..in case taps run dry. At times we collect rain water via roof tops. The good news is, with advancement in technology, we can now collect ‘energy’ from ZESCO ,(or from solar panels) in appropriate …
Cont’d … in appropriate containers. E.g. a household can do with a 10kWh flat wall mounted lithium ion pack (Costs approx K30,000 ex-works, 10 year warranty, just over half the height of a door and as wide, 100kg, throw in an inverter.). A couple of these will do for a small factory. Can do three-phase of course.
As a matter of fact you could treat this load shedding as an incentive to go into this sort of business.
@ Ndaje Kahks, I feel sorry for you because you seem to think that anybody who tries to advise is against the government. That is not the case because we are all Zambians and we all get affected by the situation our country faces. If you love Zambia, don’t always rush to defend and offend on behalf. Consenting to mistakes made does not show weakness to the contrary it shows intelligence, maturity and an accommodating character. It is prudent therefore to decipher what is being said as there is quite often a lot of sense in some of the comments. We all learn from our mistakes and nobody is above that.
Feel sorry for yourself. For you spend your time looking for mistakes instead of solutions!!
@ Chiti naimwe, I have answered the question of Zesco exporting power to Mozambique, what is your problem? When in an exam answer the question or else that is why you fail, ati but I am intelligent!
Even in discussions with your friends stick to the topics at hand, don’t be all over the show. If there are several topics under discussion speak on those that you have knowledge of.