There will be no more load shedding, ZESCO assures

By BARNABAS ZULU

ZESCO Board Chairperson Vickson Ncube says Zambia has made significant investments in the energy sector and citizens should not expect a return to nationwide load shedding even after the August elections.

Speaking during a tour of the Rusangu Solar Power Plant in Monze yesterday, Mr Ncube said the country had moved beyond temporary solutions and was implementing long-term measures to secure electricity supply.

"We are not patching up torn trousers. We are solving a problem. We are not patching up a leaking roof; we are replacing the roof with a better one," Mr Ncube said.

He explained that Government and ZESCO had been working tirelessly since the country experienced what he described as the most embarrassing period of load shedding in its history.

"After the last rain season, we will not look back. We are working on major projects and in the next year or two we are targeting about 1,500 megawatts of baseload power alone, not to mention solar power projects," he said.

Mr Ncube noted that Zambia was also aggressively pursuing solar energy investments, with planned projects expected to contribute more than 2,000 megawatts to the national grid.

Referring to Government's energy expansion programme, he said ZESCO was committed to achieving its targets under the 10-10 energy initiative.

"And how sufficient are we in terms of energy right now? Right now, we are more than sufficient. We have enough generation from ZESCO alone before I even start bringing our partners who are already supplying power into the grid," he said.

Mr Ncube named independent power producers that are contributing electricity to the national grid and stated that Zambia currently has adequate power generation capacity.

He however clarified that some power interruptions being experienced in certain communities should not be mistaken for load shedding.

"These days everything is called load shedding. If I run out of units, I say I am load shedding. If a thief steals a cable, I am load shedding. If a transformer is vandalised, I am load shedding," he joked.

He explained that genuine load shedding only occurs when electricity demand exceeds available generation on the national grid.

"What people want is less than what we have. We have sufficient power. But that does not mean there will never be technical faults or breakdowns," he said.

Mr Ncube said some communities experience low voltage because transformers become overloaded as housing developments expand beyond their planned capacity.

He also expressed concern over increasing cases of vandalism targeting electricity infrastructure.

"Just as I was passing through Monze, I found workers digging near a ZESCO substation because someone had cut and stolen an underground cable. These are huge cables and they are now replacing them," he said.

Mr Ncube urged members of the public to help protect electricity infrastructure, saying vandalism remains one of the major causes of localised power disruptions despite the country's improved generation capacity.