By Esther Chisola
Ministry of Energy permanent secretary Peter Mumba says the country will in the next two years be the net exporter of electricity following the measures it has put in place in order to solve the current situation.
And Mumba said the recent prolonged loadshedding hours the country was experiencing was as a result of a converter fault on the Namibian power importation route which has since been resolved and Zambia expects relative network stability.
Mumba also said the government was putting in measures to see to it that Zesco.does not completely go down following its financial crisis.
Speaking at a media briefing today, Mumba said the country’s power generation levels stood at 1,019 MW with demand of 2,400 MW, leaving a deficit of 1,381 MW.
“Government we are concerned that ZESCO is experiencing this problem of financial drought and therefore there is a need to see to it that ZESCO doesn’t completely go down. I will not dive much into what the government does but ZESCO will be assisted,” he said.
He said ZESCO was in such a situation because it was importing power at a higher cost and selling it at a cheaper price.
“ZESCO is importing power at a premium cost but selling it at a cost below that which they imported power from like Escom. Any business person would know that if you buy your tomatoes at a higher price and sell them at the same price you are definitely going to run dry in your business. The is the same the situation at ZESCO,” he said.
Mumba assured the nation that the government was putting in place measures that would ensure that Zambia became a net exporter of electricity two years from now.
“I want to assure the nation that we have put sufficient measures to ensure that this country does not experience the kind of situation we are in. Two years from now, because of the measures that are in place, Zambia will be a net exporter of power,” Mumba said.
“We are not sleeping; we are doing everything possible. Come two years from today, you will hold me accountable. Two years from now, we will be exporting power. We will face some challenges but we will very soon get out of this situation.
