MINISTER of Energy and Water Development Dora Siliya says water levels in the Kariba Dam are still low at 12 percent despite the heavy rains that the country is experiencing.
And Ms Siliya says Government has started repossessing licences from investors that are not utilising them to invest in power generation projects.
The minister explained that the water levels in the Kariba Dam are still low and that it would take another three years for the reservoir for power generation to be filled.
“People have been calling me asking whether the Kariba Dam is full following the heavy rains that the country is experiencing. Last week we visited the dam and the water levels are still at 12 percent,” she said.
Last month, the Zambezi River Authority said in a statement that the dam rose to 12 percent of capacity, having dropped to 11 percent on January 27.
Ms Siliya was speaking in Kitwe yesterday during the official opening of a workshop on energy efficiency organised by the Ministry of Energy and Water Development, in partnership with Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), a Swiss-based company specialised in power and automation technologies.
She also said Government has started repossessing power generation licenses from investors that are not utilising them to invest in power generation projects.
Ms Siliya said most investors that obtained licences for power generation have not invested in the energy sector.
“Through the Energy Regulation Board, we have started recalling all those licences that are inactive. We want serious investors in the energy sector because the power demand in the country is increasing,” she said.
Ms Siliya also urged Zambians to partner with foreign investors in hydro-power generation projects.
She said Government will next week launch the Karpowership from Turkey, which will increase power supply to Zambia by 200 megawatts (MW).
Ms Siliya also said Government has finalised the procurement procedures for inland generations, which will further cushion the power deficit in the country.
She also said there is need to invest in power generation projects, especially in the northern region, where there is plenty of rainfall.
Ms Siliya also said time has come for Zambia to switch from using hydropower energy to solar energy in view of the water shortage.
She said Zambians must also adopt a trend of using solar power during the day and switch to hydro power during the night.
The truth has been told and lies have short hands.
Zesco has been fined by Zambezi river authority for over using water due to defective turbines thus madam it is like pouring water in a bucket with a leakage .The more water you add the greater the pressure of water coming out of the bucket.
We thank God for the heavy rains so that God is no longer blamed for our failures
Ba Pf you got cheap turbines ! your corruption .
Selfish, tribalists, corrupt, opportunists, racists and lazy people will still vote for PF!! Any concerned Zambian would think twice before voting for an irresponsible party like PF. I still wont be surprised to see PF winning because it looks like there is something very wrong with us Zambians.
I truly feel sad for innocent Zambians who are suffering because of a few selfish people. Anyway, you guys call it Democracy. I call it foolishness and lack of insight. It looks like Zambians and most Africans (natives) only know how to live for now. We cant see beyond tomorrow.
Just change the turbines you bought through corruption and install the right turbines. Dora, you are trying but your history shows that you are not a straight minister going by what you did for ZAMTEL only to be reversed by PF.
Aba T……. nga basundilamo kuti chaisula bwangu.
Edgar Lungu
1. 800% increase in external debt ceiling from K20 billion in 2011 to K160 billion in 2016
2. 131% increase in domestic debt ceiling from K13 billion to K30 billion
3. 433% increase in external debt from $1.2billion in 2011 to $6.4 billion in 2016
4. 134% depreciation in the value of the kwacha from K4.86 in 2011 to K11.40 in 2016
5. 247% increase in inflation from 6.6% in,2012 to 22.9% in January, 2016
6. 135% increase in fiscal deficit above budget from K8.5 billion to K20 billion in 2015
7. 147% increase in trade deficit from $383.4million in 2014 to $945.8million in 2015
8. 130% increase in average bank lending interest rates from 12.15% in 2012 to 30% in 2016
9. 157% increase of in the staple food – mealie meal from average of K37 in 2011 to about K95 in 2016
10…
She needs to go and see the optician.
I’m tired of this BS statement. After 50 years of independence, Kariba waters are low in PF’s era, Kwacha has depreciated over 60% in PF’s era, Meal allowances for CBU & UNZA students have been scrapped in PF’s rule, and a lot of nonsense that has never happened before these visionless cowards came to power.
Truth is like burning fire, it cannot be hidden under dry leaves.
Dora, your lies will catch up with you. People who stay along kariba lake have already spoken and have said it is full, nomba iwe cinshi teti ulandefye ifyo mwacita and we will forgive you.
Calls were made for an indepth analysis of turbine efficiency at Kariba since start of serious power crisis last year, but were taken lightly. One cannot correct a plant (machine) defect by arguing the loudest and winning points, but by taking corrective action!
The Zambian government has”overload” the designated capacity of Kariba Dam by about 400 MW. The original maximum design capacity for both Kariba North Bank (Zambia) and Kariba South Bank (Zimbabwe) is 1350 MW. On Zambian side 1080 MW is the installed capacity and 750 MW is the installed capacity on the Zimbabwe side. Low water level and Load shedding is due to misuse of water or overuse of water in relation to the designed capacity. So the low rainfall is not the cause of load shedding but running generator above the designated capacity.
This was ably explained by Dr Guy Scott in parliament and LT carried an article written by a whiteman based in SA for months explaining this water mismanagement. It is this 360 MW contraption according to Dr Scott which has caused all this mess. It was not supposed to run continuously but only at peak times.
I am not here to be liked but to speak the truth to the uninitiated on technical matters. KNB Power Stations had 4 machines but decided to install 2 additional machines bringing the total to 6 machines i.e from 720MW to 1080MW. Obviously 6 machines would use more water than 4 machines and it has nothing to do with the make of the machines. These 2 machines were supposed to be used during peak periods and not continuously especially if there enough water instead of spilling it. It is the spilled water that damages the plunge pool so the less water spilled the better. I suspect, do not quote me, this is why ZESCO is being fined for excessive usage of water.
Let me clarify some misunderstanding here. The Kafue River joins the Zambezi River after Kariba Dam. This means that no matter how much it rains on the Copperbelt, Central and Lusaka Provinces and all the Kafue River tributaries this water will not fill up the Kariba Dam. Even the rains that fall in North Western, Western and Southern Provinces and parts of Angola take a few months to reach Kariba Dam apart from the water that directly fall on the Lake which is not much.Let me clarify some misunderstanding here. The Kafue River joins the Zambezi River after Kariba Dam. This means that no matter how much it rains on the Copperbelt, Central and Lusaka Provinces and all the Kafue River tributaries this water will not fill up the Kariba Dam. Even the rains that fall in North Western, Western…
Since when? Hah! The pattern of rains we have received this year is far much more than the previous years. Clarify it to yourself because we know the failures PF has brought. Why only when the PF is in power all things fall apart. PURE FAILURES (PF)
The average speed of water on the Zambezi is 3 metres per second which translates into 180 m per minute=10,800 m per hour=259,200 m or 259 km per day. Roughly, it is 1500 km (plus or minus) from northwestern to Kariba, even shorter from western province. Divide 1500/259=6 days for water to reach the kariba. Look, the victoria falls is already full to capacity and you want to tell lies about the Kariba less than 500 Km from the victoria falls. Just admit, you bought gonga turbines
Dear senior Engineer RTD,
Engineering is an exact science. You, of all people, should know better IF you are a qualified and time-tested Engineer as you claim to be.
We are now in March. For you to try and defend Dora Siliya’s flat lie that the Kariba Dam is only 12% of full capacity DUE TO POOR RAIN puts your competency in engineering and science into serious question, and quite frankly speaks volume about you.
@Peter Njobvu.Have you ever heard of the Barotse Plains meaning that the area is very flat where Zambezi River passes. Now the velocity in a river is given by the Manning formula: V=R2/3*S1/2/n R is the hydraulic radius of the river channel, S is slope of the river channel and n is the roughness of the river channel. In a plain R is very small, S is very small and n is very big because water has to pass through a channel full of grass. A small number times a small number divided by a large gives you a very small velocity. You can therefore not get 5m/s in a plain. The Kafue River falls 10m in 300 km thorough the Kafue Flats and water takes about 3 months to reach Kafue Gorge. This is engineering not politics.
@Cactus. I am not defending her. I even question her appointment in a party where she openly insulted the founding father of PF. But it is a fact that after depleting the reservoir through water mismanagement the Kariba reservoir can not filled in one rainy season even a good one.
@Senior Engineer……….what are you clarifying that I cannot get? Is this the first time we are having low rainfall pattern? Why didn’t we have this type of loadsheeding in the MMD era when we had low rainfall?
The truth is that there is something terribly wrong at the dam there; unfortunately the powers that be are aware of that and yet they still insist on an excuse that they feel will not damage their reputation.
There is no truth in the water level thing.
…its high time we started getting briefings direct from ZESCO other than politicians….lets have a technical approach rather than a political one…..like some one has already alluded to….how can we expect the Dam to fill up with such thirsty Chinese turbines with orifice as wide as the dam itself….guzzling water like Zambian women do…..
…like Zambian women do to lagers……
I was in Siavonga on 26 February and visited the dam. The dam’s height is 178 metres. My estimation is that the dam had filled, at least up to 120 metres. I do not understand how that translates to 12%.
Why can’t ZESCo or someone more competent inform the nation?
I suspect that Ms. Siliya is economical with the truth, and not surprisingly so. It’s election year after all.
The Kariba Dam is 128m high not 178m.
Let Dora Use her urine to fill the Dam
Let us talk about the issue of planning, this should have been caught by the experts a long time ago and alternative solution could have been provided. We tend to run a blind eye when experts are advising us, so is your government madam Liya. This is not a time to grab licenses, but to find alternatives. We need visionary people to sort out the predicament we in. Encourage people to utilize solar energy and reduce duty on the imports of the same. Also find generators with proper fuel efficiency and encourage people to buy this and also reduce or remove duty on their imports. These some of the things your government should recommend for the way forward.
I support PF but there is something wrong here.Kariba dam is not the only place where zambian generate electricity.Let Dora tell us about Kafue gorge which can generate 950MW plus.Kafue river should have enough water to generate 950MW.Infact Kafue gorge was the lagest power station 2years .The minister should also tell us how mcuh zambia is generating per in zambia by each power station.We love PF but ubufi kuleka.It seems some corrupt chaps bought wrong turbines.Iwe mwandi africa musebanya.Lungu should be in charge otherwise tefilemoneka bwino ifintu na ba Kaingu minister of education scrapping meal allowances.iwe MMD chaps are useless.Lungu please stop bringing MMD chaps in PF.We don’t want PF to die now but maybe after 20years.viva PF
‘She said Zambians must also adopt a trend of using solar power during the day and switch to hydro power during the night.”
This is indeed a very dull GRZ. This is what some of us have been saying for the past 2 years. It is common sense. But PF was too busy looting the eurobonds to think of anything else.’
Unfortunately Dora this needs GRZ work by sanitising and incentives , but you are too lazy in PF and there are no kickbacks to be made.
Even if the Kariba is not yet full due to the water that is still flowing from the upper lands, and given the amount of rain Zambia is receiving at the moment, and the recent past, I think it would be incorrect to dismiss the possibilities of the dam filling up this season – already focasting three year, as was originally predicted when the rains were expected to be pretty bad this year! What really happened to the water over the past few years, for the dam to be so thirsty that it can’t fill no matter how much rain in a season; given that the dam used to fill up year in year out in the past? What we have we done to our water godess if any, to suck out so much water that we are now hopeless like this? Can someone, other than Dora, really explain the background to this water loss that has…
Friends, find time to go pass through there by the dam before u jst make funny comments.
Muliokela once gave out advice- “drill boreholes along the attributing streams, rivers etc in order to pump water in the streamms to make the kariba dam full in no time. He even said its water recycling. And we got a good and abundant water table.
Imagine he said this last year
Imwee mwebantu mwaseka ati muliokela lishilu fye…
#muliokela muliokela, muliokela autu lefwa-singing. Hahahahahahahahaha.
Repossessing licenses for energy from investors…you tricked by u-turning on reflective cost tarriffs…you think they will invest their money at loss….what folly!!
now that the water levels are still low what we are going to do is blah blah blah……………………we want solutions mADAM SILIYA ………WE KNOW ZAMBIA IS EXPORTING MORE ELECTRICITY THAN BEFORE ALA
Water situation has surely improved and yet to improve. Govt is not just open enough to say the truth. The current state of the dam may not allow so much water before rehabilitation, hence the panic to look for other alternatives to the north of the country. Kariba dependency may halt the country.
Just seek technical advice, simple.
Building series of the hydro power before Kariba is a good example, just like Itezhitezhi and upcoming Sioma falls. We can utilise so many along these perennial rivers whose water is just wasted into the Indian Ocean.
I thank God am a Zambian.
@Jacob those turbines were bought by MMD Sata just went to commission them get your facts correctly. @ peter ndlovu dont despute what @ seniour engineer RTD is saying he is a genius in that field, the problem with UPND cadres is that, to you everything is politics be serious for once please.
dont lie, the installed turbines were sourced by PF after changing suppliers.
something is definitely wrong, when there was a lot of noise about wrongly installed turbines, the Chinese company that supposedly done the work did not once come out to defend their reputation or quality of workmanship. We have heard nothing in their defence, All reputable companies defend their reputations and workman ship, not this one. This leads one to believe middle men were used to buy those generators by PF and corners were cut with a lot of corruption.
I am not here to be liked but to speak the truth to the uninitiated on technical matters. KNB Power Stations had 4 machines but decided to install 2 additional machines bringing the total to 6 machines i.e from 720MW to 1080MW. Obviously 6 machines would use more water than 4 machines and it has nothing to do with the make of the machines. These 2 machines were supposed to be used during peak periods and not continuously especially if there enough water instead of spilling it. It is the spilled water that damages the plunge pool so the less water spilled the better. I suspect, do not quote me, this is why ZESCO is being fined for excessive usage of water.
Ba TOP MAN mind your language.
This senior engineer retired whom I don’t like talks a lot of sense. But just a question Senior engineer. Aren’t we being naive, technically speaking, by using the water behind the dam only once? Couldn’t we have passed it through two or more turbines to obtain more power? Awaiting your learned response
The only way you can use water more than once is through a series of power stations on the same river. You can generate 1600 MW at Batoka Gorge using the available head or drop. The same water can generate 1000MW at Devil’s Gorge using the available head. It then goes to Mpata Gorge to generate 543MW using the available head until it goes to finally Kariba Gorge to generate additional power using available head. Once you have used this head there is no power left in the water unless all the head was not used like at Kafue Gorge were only 400m from 600m head was used. The remaining 200m can still be used. The drop is found at gorges or water falls.
I am not here to be liked but to speak the truth to the uninitiated on technical matters. KNB Power Stations had 4 machines but decided to install 2 additional machines bringing the total to 6 machines i.e from 720MW to 1080MW. Obviously 6 machines would use more water than 4 machines and it has nothing to do with the make of the machines. These 2 machines were supposed to be used during peak periods and not continuously especially if there enough water instead of spilling it. It is the spilled water that damages the plunge pool so the less water spilled the better. I suspect, do not quote me, this is why ZESCO is being fined for excessive usage of water.
Give enough fluids to pf cadres to void enough urine in the Kariba dam
I think the main problem here is that the power demand in Zambia is increasing with a higher speed than power generation plants are build.