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(Bloomberg) — Zambia’s electricity supply woes are far from over, with the energy regulator again extending emergency power tariffs as its drought-sapped hydropower dams take time to replenish.
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The Energy Regulation Board late Wednesday night extended the tariffs by an additional three months — until July 31 — to cover the price of costly electricity imports that the southern African nation has been forced to rely on after its worst drought in more than a century in 2024.
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Water levels in the country’s major hydropower dams remain low despite this year’s improved rainfall. At Kariba, the biggest, levels this week were below 14%, slightly above where they were this time last year, even though inflows from the Zambezi River that feeds it are more than three times higher.
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The Zambezi River Authority — a joint venture between Zambia and Zimbabwe that maintains the Kariba Dam complex — allocated twenty-seven billion cubic meters of water for electricity generation this year to be shared equally between the two nations. Zambia relies on hydro for 85% of its electricity generation.
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State-owned power utility Zesco Ltd. has been implementing daily rolling electricity blackouts since March last year because of the low water levels, with customers still only receiving seven hours of daily supply.
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Mining companies in Africa’s second largest copper producer have had to import electricity to cover the shortfall.
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First Quantum Minerals Ltd., which accounts for about half of Zambia’s total copper production, expects power to remain restricted until the second half of 2026, during which time it will rely on imports, Chief Operating Officer Rudi Badenhorst said last week.
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—With assistance from Matthew Hill.
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English (US)