THE Government has urged Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) members to look at the power deficit in a positive manner and strategically turn it into an opportunity to come up with initiatives to scale up output.
Lands, Energy and Water Development Minister Christopher Yaluma said members should eek initiatives and exploit initiatives that would lead to recapitalisation. Mr Yaluma was speaking in Livingstone at Zambezi Sun Hotel yesterday at the 38th SAPP Annual General Meeting.
SAPP is a cooperation of national electricity companies in Southern Africa under the auspecies of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The members of SAPP have created common power grid between their countries and a common market for electricity in the region. The minister said the demand for electricity in the southern African region had increased at an average rate of three per cent per year due to increased economic activities.
SAPP members should therefore, invest more in power projects to mitigate the power supply deficit.
"I note that some success has been achieved, such as the commissioning of 1,230 Mega Watt (MW) capacity within the region during the year 2011. However, I would like to challenge members that I believe that more can be done," Mr Yaluma said.
He said one of the biggest challenges in the region was the inertia that had gripped members in implementing power projects.
"This inertia to implement power projects has made it difficult to move into first gear. Some of the projects that we discuss at our meetings have been on the lists for years. There is no movement for years," he said.
He also challenged SAPP to find feasible avenues for matching the drive for increased trade among members with equal investment in necessary infrastructure for interconnection.
"The interconnection projects such as the Zimbabwe-Zambia-Botswana-Namibia transmission, the Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya inter-connector and the proposed Democratic Republic of Congo-Zambia inter-connector among others should be pursued with a united sense of urgency and not left to individual power utilities," Mr Yaluma said.
And Zesco Limited managing director Cyprian Chitundu said his company was investing in demand side management initiatives through institutional capacity strengthening and stakeholder engagement to maximise the available power.
Mr Chitundu said Zesco had taken advantage of the 6000 MW hydro -power potential in Zambia to develop various hydro -power stations.
The power projects include the 360 MW Kariba North Bank extension, 120 MW Itezhi-tezhi hydro power generation and 750 MW Kafue Gorge lower hydroelectric power station well as several key transmission projects.
Copperbelt Energy Corporation executive chairperson Hanson Sindowe said his company looked forward to participating in SAPP sponsored projects such as ZIZABONA which would go a long way in resolving transmission constraints.
"We are well placed to participate in developing generation projects with SAPP countries, either as private players or as members of Public-Private Partnerships with SAPP national utilities," Mr Sindowe said.
Lunsenfwa Hydro Power Company managing director Katai Kachasa said 'darkness' was still a paramount feature in southern Africa as the majority of the population still had no accessto electricity.
Courtesy of allafrica.com & Times of Zambia
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