Maamba Collieries says it needs ZESCO to clear outstanding debts owed to the company so it can maintain efficient operations at its 300 MW coal-fired power plant.
Due to a continued shortfall in monthly payments of its power bills by ZESCO, MCL has not been able to keep up a robust maintenance programme at its modern eco-friendly thermal power plant which has been contributing significantly to the energy balance of the country.
The cash flow shortage has resulted in the company being unable to sustain quality proactive maintenance to the 300 Megawatts facility, and the recent forced shutdown of one of its two-generation units, halving its power supplied to the national grid to 130 Megawatts.
“Maamba Collieries makes a significant contribution to the national grid, and provides a vital diversification from the reliance on hydropower that has proved so vulnerable to climate change. We stand ready, willing and able to supply significant base load power to the nation,” said Maamba Collieries Chief Executive Officer, Rear Admiral Venkat Shankar.
Mr Shankar said without payment from ZESCO their sole source of revenue they have insufficient funds to pay for costly spare parts and maintenance as also the project dues to their principal equipment supplier whose expertise they depend on, which is not a desirable situation in these times of energy crisis that the country is facing and may face over the next couple of years.
He said the company confirmed that one of its two units was forced to shut down on October 17, 2019 owing to a technical fault and requires extensive consultations with the equipment supplier.
A statement from ZESCO on October 18, 2019, attributed an additional three hours of load-shedding to the Maamba shutdown.
Typical of the state-of-the-art technology, the power plant requires intensive regular maintenance involving high expenditure for spares, support services from the equipment manufacturers and other maintenance activities.
However, since commencing supplying power in August 2016, there has been a continuous shortfall in monthly payments received from ZESCO against Maamba Collieries’ power bills, explained Rear Admiral Shankar.
The company has not disclosed the amount of funds owed but explained that the payment shortfall has left it with inadequate cash for the conduct of operations and maintenance activities.
“Maamba Collieries considers the emerging situation as being largely attributable to non-receipt of full payments from ZESCO, leading to MCL being cash strapped, which is increasingly beginning to impact the continued running of the plant and its machinery, and its ability to undertake repairs and proactive maintenance.
Under these conditions we are unable to confirm the timeline for resumption of operations of the unit that is shut down or guarantee the continued availability of the second unit currently operating,” said Rear Admiral Shankar.
“We are hopeful of ZESCO’s cooperation in meeting our monthly payments, which would ensure that Maamba Collieries will be able to run its plant at full capacity in these difficult times of acute power shortage,” he added.
You cant clear debts but you want to import power.
That is why ESCOM wants payment up front. They know who they are dealing with.
HAZALUZAH HAGAIN the way I see things going for him especially that he is UNELECTABLE and CHILDISH.
What is a rear admiral?
As per customs and culture of the PF, they are lying that there is an equipment that broke down at Maamba hence the 15 hour “idiocy” shedding, but as usual the truth no matter how long it takes to put on clothes, it still comes and be heard. You thieves just own up and surrender, governance is too big for you just as speaking truth is too hard for you.
I said it. The country has potential to mitigate the power outage challenge.
Indeed it’s pointless importing when you can actually locally produce the product.
Gracefully disband Zesco.
Problem is with Government heavy hand on it, ERB is teethless and Zesco has been dozing.
In future, Zesco must not have all the three viz Generation, Transmission and Distribution.
Just how much do Government Ministries owe Zesco.
For Zesco, its unbusiness-like to deny Maamba Coaleries their money and choose to import.
It all goes back to Zambians. You want everything to be done for you. ECL was excited commissioning the power generating firm. But its not for free. Maamba Coaleries is a FDI program. Pay the Indians for the power you consumed, Zesco. Let them externalize their profit.
As for Zesco Engineers, please diversify from Climate Hit Hydropower.
Garamukani!!!! Japan is surrounded by water but chose to use NUKE. Why was Maamba an FDI?
Good advice, Thorn. But if you read between the lines, you know that the team at ZESCO is competent. The real issue here is TARIFFS. That proposed increment was suppose to put such matters to bed but it became political. Cost reflective tariffs will enable ZESCO to pay Maamba or import power. When uninformed, lying, loudmouthed opposition hyenas blow issues out of proportion and misinform the population, this is what happens.
GRZ has to make a decision. Politics shouldn’t hinder progress. Let’s brace ourselves for increased tariffs if ZESCO is to deliver.
But Lungu and his PF bandits can afford to send Esther Lungu with her Bedroom attendant plus a 25 entourage team at a total cost of US 9 million dollars to bring old junked fire truck all valued at US $7500…Lungu can afford a modern private Jet…Lungu is welcomed and seen off at airport tarmac every day by his entire cabinet at a cost of US $1.2 million dollars per trip……we have useless Ministry of Religion and Ministry of Gender…all wasting millions tax payers money which can be used to maintain Maamba mine…so the truth is out…its not water levels..its PF bandits reckless spending
Am not surprised….Lungu said he had no vision for Zambia….his only vision was to enrich himself, hire a bedroom attendant for his wife Esther, Globetrott in a Private Jet with Findlay,Kaizer,Sikazwe and the entire PF bandits..creat useless ministries like ministry of religion and ministry of gender….build properties in Eswatin….Travel to UNGA in New York and speak to an empty auditorium…meanwhile Maamba is going for years without payment
How much is ZESCO owing you, bwana?
The tax payers money that Esther Lungu is spending on her bedroom attendant plus all the money for Lungu’s Globetrotting is enough to clear debt owned to Maamba
Where is CEC in all this, a local private Power firm?
Do they still depend on Zesco?
Shouldn’t CEC get smarter than MCL?
Come on CEC where are you? Are you as incompetent as Zesco?
Government give CEC ice breaking incentives. Some of these tuma companies could be Pain in the Flesh.
Government should revisit ERB. It has failed. Government has failed in turn.
Damn it.
Thorn, CEC is a distributor. That’s why their contract is getting cancelled next year. They are just a small group of people who took over Power Division of ZCCM and haven’t invested in generation capacity. Tariffs bwana!! Work on those and a lot of problems will go away.
A Rear Admiral is a title used in the Navy and is equivalent to a Major General in the Army.
Everything to do with the lungu lead PF GRZ is run like a tarven in chawama
…………Hand to mouth with shortages rom being chopped at different budgets ,
The real rrason for the power shortage or so called load-shedding has now been reviewed. ZESCO is broke and MCL has pulled the plug! This government cash-cow has been completely milked dry! We all know that ZESCO has always been abused by GRZ of the day to pay for campaigns and khaki envelopes dodgy deals. Had ZESCO not been countrywide it would have folded long time ago like Zambia Airways. Can you privatise this company now and encourage competition. Nanga nimalaiti yanyoko?
The equalizer.
It is imperative that we get facts before issuing comments. Yes Zesco has short falls but do not make up stories based on an article. Do some research and get correct data. You will end giving false information to your kids. Please avoid taking pub stories as facts. Ilyashi lyapa nsaka musenda chipuba…
That’s the reason when I heard the story of Chinese want to take over zesco, I was not happy. Why should our own company be taken over by foreigners. Than I thought about it carefully. Does it matter to me who owns the company? As long as I am supplied with power 247 who cares. Worried about high charges? Who cares because our own zesco is charging us very high rates and not even giving us the service so better they sell it off.
This is probably an arm twisting tactic by the punjabies to keep the cash inflow running. If you read between lines, the unit haas just been shutdown not that it broke down!
“without payment from ZESCO their sole source of revenue they have insufficient funds to pay for costly spare parts and maintenance as also the project dues to their principal equipment supplier whose expertise they depend on” and “…a technical fault and requires extensive consultations with the equipment supplier…” This smacks of price transfer which our ZRA and the other share holders (ZCCM_IH) are non the wiser about!
I would do the some even worse, ZESCO has an obligation to pay, Infact they also owe Lusenfwa Hydro Company millions of US$ . Stop complaining you Zambian and learn to pay suppliers
So you want them to provide a free service to ZESCO?
@ David N. What do you want them to do? They have workers to pay, spare parts to buy, machines to service, there own debts to pay and profit to make. You want them to go down the ZESCO way? Why did ZESCO not make the investment in Maamba to generate there own power if they had the resources? Ikaleni fye tata
This is the same story that happened with the mines. They were under us, we failed to run them and so we sold them to foreigners. They didn’t put a gun to your head and grab the mines. Now that they have done the investments and turned it around you want to grab the mine back.
@Wako
Kikikikikijijijiji
“They didn’t put a gun to your head and grab the mines”
Yaba!! Wandepula.
And they want to start importing power from ESKOM, these mappets. You fail to pay a company that is locally registered and charging low costs, how are you going to pay exorbitant costs demanded by a foreign firm.? This is the worst government since self governance came onto being in 1964. Shame on you zealouts
Bamwine….
Do you know the price Zesco is paying for power from Mamba? It’s one of the worst deals ever signed by Zesco. Do not assume that it is cheap because it from local source. I stand to be correct, power from Maamba May be more expensive than what we are being offer from SA.
@ I love Zambia. Who negotiated for the deal? Was it a nicekeleko deal? Under what condition did they agree to sign the contract? Why didn’t they refuse as Maamba would have had no were to take the power without the ZESCO grid.
It’s our fault, why did we not invest ourselves. Too late to complain.
Indeed who negotiated that deal.
Take home. Even when Government want to promote investment in the energy sector, they and we know that it would not be free and cheap. However, teethless ERB must begin to work. It is unfair to subject Zesco customers Zesco’s problems
. All customers need is a service not stories and the switch and serve hogwash. Zesco seem not to have Strategic Management aka top management. Don’t preach swith and serve, let people use and you charge them competitively for their abuse, that’s how businesses make money to pay suppliers.
Bazungu bakuti Switch and Save.
Zesco gives its money to PF to run by election campaigns…..story izibika
They have been doing that from Government to Government. No wonder some people advocate for privatization.
They have money to pay cadres and for party projects as well as keeping functionaries such as Sunday chanda on the payroll for doing nothing yet don’t have money to pay maamba for power which they collected and already sold to consumers.
How much is owed?
We are in sh!t under Lungu. Employed a lot of cadres under Zesco and stealing from coffers. A responsible parent always thinks about the future of his children even after s/he is dead. Now is Lungu is failing to think one year ahead.
Africa50 and its partners announce the completion of the 390 MW Benban Solar Power Project in Egypt
24 October 2019
Casablanca, October 24, 2019 – Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform, announced the completion of the 390 MW Benban solar project near Aswan, in Upper Egypt. All plants are now connected to the grid and have started commercial operations.
The six plants developed as part of this project are the world’s largest solar park utilizing bifacial solar modules, capturing the sun’s energy from both sides of the panel, therefore increasing clean power generation. They are also the largest contribution to the 1.5 GW Benban Solar Park.
Yaba, does Mr Lungu know how to run Zesco? The economy will go down kumanda with Zesco.
…But he is very good at Saturday morning workouts, although it does not bring electricity or affordable mealie meal.
We are always crying for investors, if we can reason together put our efforts into developing things for Zambians and by Zambians then investors will take us serious..now Zesco is managed like a ka temba because from left to right its all cadres running the firm. We aint serious people and in the words of Chishimba ” we are a f00lish people” educated f00ls.
Why can’t we just enter into a partnership with an investor say 50% : 50 % ( Like Zanaco) so that Zesco can get the cash injection it needs to resuscitate itself.We must also brace ourselves for cost reflective tariffs…Ohhh wait ,i forgot..it’s the govt’s cash cow..but it has got no milk for them to milk anymore..hahahahaha .Tili mumishombo apa manje…
Lies have very short legs!
We were told it was the Maamba Generators all this time and yet the problem has always been ZESCO delinquency!
Why can’t we be truthful?
Consequences of lack of vision
The sad part about all this is that people in government DO NOT think the current power blues is a CRISIS. To them its business as usual,arms folded the rains will come and fill up the Dam!? If this was treated as a crisis someone would be fired for neglecting to pay their most important client which is MCL. Its totally unthinkable that amidst these hard times of 15 to 24hrs black outs, ZESCO would neglect a company that is giving them and the whole nation some relief of 300MW! Who does that?
Someone above keeps singing about non competitive tariffs from Zesco as a reason, Do you know just how bloated in terms of personnel Zesco is? They are obviously not making as much money from their sales but have you heard any restructuring at Zesco to stream line their workforce?? Management of…
When the load shedding was increased from 4 hours to 8 hours, which eventually became 12 hours we were told that was because one of the machines producing 150 MW out of 300MW was under repairs to last 15 days. One would have expected the load shedding to go back to 4 hours when the machine was repaired bringing back the initial 300MW of power production but load shedding continued at 12 hours. Now one of the machines has broken down again taking 150MW out of the system and the load shedding has even been increased to 15 hours. I was wondering how new machines can be breaking down so often but now it has transpired that the Independent Power Producer has not been paid by ZESCO which has resulted, he claims, in his failure to maintain the machines. Again Eskom is demanding to be paid…
upfront because the 2015 electricity bill has not been paid. What happened to the 75% tariff increase last year?. It is the largest tariff increase in one sitting.
MCL HAVE NO RESPECT FOR ZESCO , WHY KUPINDA NKHONGOLE MU PUBLIC YA PIPO? Just sit down with MD VICTOR MUNDENDE, HE IS VERY UNDERSTANDING AND CAN PAY U WITHOUT EMBARRASSING OUR OWN POWER UTILITY IN PUBLIC THROUGH THE MEDIA, YOU WANT THE MEDIA TO HELP U RECOVER UR KAMONEY?
In Zambia, any change in climate can spell disaster. With a majority of Zambians depending on agriculture, even a slight change in temperature can affect crops like maize with catastrophic consequences for livelihood.
Life has become more difficult, we were able to find solutions to whatever challenges we were faced with when Rivers never ran dry.
The country is already struggling to achieve development, and climate change is putting additional strain on that process. Extreme weather is affecting wildlife.Lack of rain in most places in Zambia may result in Animals to start scavenging on roots.Vegetation has also been affected!
With this said how can the Government be at fault for this change in climate?
What can the Government do to bring back the water in the Kariba Dam when we…
CONTINUATION…. we well know that its all because of the massive droughts that have been hitting our Nation.
In response to these impacts,The PF Government is Zambia is working hard to develop sustainable and appropriate programmes for both crops and livestock in the face of climate change. Some of Zambia’s adaptation measures include: promotion of irrigation and efficient use of water resources.
Ours as Citizens of Zambia is to support and help the Government in power to make Zambia a better Place to live in.
Even if Maamba’s Nava Energy is paid all the outstanding debts, this 300 MW plant cannot supply power at full capacity. The maximum will be in the range of 230 somewhere there. This coal fired power plant needs constant maintenance by the original manufacturers (SEPCO) to carry out maintenance. Its only the Chinese who know what constantly needs patching. The mistake that the Indian man did was to prematurely remove the Chinese in preference of their unqualified countrymen to run the plant. The Indians thought they had grasped the Chinaman techniques. So for effective OEM, Maamba Collieries Ltd needs the presence of China’s SEPCO personnel.