By Mubanga Mubanga
Energy Regulation Board (ERB) director general Eng Elijah Sichone says ZESCO will continue charging emergency tariffs because the situation which necessitated them has persisted.
Speaking during the mid year press briefing in Lusaka on Friday, Sichone said the emergency power tariffs will continue because Zesco was still importing power.
However, Sichone said ERB will review the emergency tariffs on July 31, 2025.
“These tariffs, which came into effect on 1st November 2024, were intended to assist Zesco raise $15 million monthly from residential, commercial and maximum demand customers,” Sichone said. “The incremental revenue from the emergency was intended to supplement revenue from the emergency tariffs under separate emergency tariffs and support to address the ongoing power deficit.”
Sichone said ZESCO achieved 65.7 percent performance in 2024, compared to 65.9 percent in 2023, which he said was below the key performance inductor target of 75% performance.
He said the performance was affected by load shedding.
For North-Western Power (NWEC), he said the company achieved an average score of 70.6 percent.
“The utility’s performance was affected by adverse scoring on the quality of service indices due to load shedding. NWEC recorded an average score of 70.6 percent, which also missed the benchmark minimum of 75 percent due to the impact of loadshedding on the quality of service indices,” Sichone said. “However, this performance was not compared to the previous year.”
Meanwhile, Sichone said ERB had approved five power supply agreements and 30 power purchase agreements , among them a 600MW coal powered plant, the 100 MW proto Gen project among others projects.
“I am happy to share that we have seen tremendous progress on the projects with the 100M Kariba North Bank extension corporation PV in Chisamba. Commissioned by Republican President Hakainde Hichilema on 30th June 2025. Additionally, on 9th May 2025, the honorable Minister officiated at the ground breaking ceremony of the 50MW Cooma solar project in Choma,” Sichone said. “The power projects are critical for energy diversification of the energy mix, which is vital for enhancing Zambia’s energy security, promoting adoption and supporting economic growth.”
On fuel supply, Sichone said Tanzania and Zambia had agreed to construct a multi purpose pipeline which was aimed at reducing transportation costs.
“The new pipeline is to be constructed along the wayleave of the current Tazama pipeline,” Sichone said. “As of the period of January to June 2025 the feasibility study for this was concluded and the validation stage had also commenced.”
Further, Sichone said ERB had begun utilising a drag reducing agent (DRA) to enhance its efficiency in delivering diesel. He added that the introduction of DRA had improved daily pump volume from an average of 2.3 million litres per day to 3.6 million litres per day.
