New Projects Could Add 2,800 Megawatts to Zambia's Base Power by 2015

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--From 2011 through 2015 Zambia could see the beginning of the end of chronic power shortages that have caused power outages, resulting in the rationing of electricity supply to the public and industry, and frustration in the development of the country's rich mining potential. Two new projects with a total investment of $3.3 billion could add 2,800 megawatts (MW) to the national grid supply by 2015.

India's Era Group (New Delhi) is planning a power station project based at the site of the Maamba Collieries, which has a reserve resource of 78 million tons of coal. The group is due to commence further prospecting activities in southern Zambia to provide feed for the $1.8 billion coal-fired project. Initial tendering for the project started in April and tendering for construction contracts by the group's subsidiary Era Engineering is set to open in August. In the initial phase, the power station would generate 250 MW plus another 250 MW by the end of 2011. A final peak-generation capacity of up to 1,200 MW is targeted. Era is looking to the Zambian government for maximum assistance in supporting the fast-track project.

Era is also planning to make a $50 million investment in a 6,000-hectare agricultural project in Zambia to grow maize and rice. The company is in the process of identifying land for the project. Currently only 10% of Zambia's 40 million hectares of arable land is used for agriculture.

In the Lower Gorge of the Kafue River, MWH Global Incorporated (Broomfield, Colorado) is to conduct a $15 million project for technical and economic-feasibility studies to assist in the selection of an independent power producer for a new 750-MW hydropower project. The site for the new $1.5 billion project is about 65 kilometers upstream from the confluence of the Kafue and Zambezi Rivers and 5 kilometers downstream from the tailrace tunnel of the existing Kafue Gorge Upper Hydro Project. The existing power plant, rated at 900 MW, has suffered from chronic maintenance and availability problems and is now undergoing a refurbishment program. The new Lower Gorge project could be operational by 2015.

Since the early 1990s, MWH has conducted a number of feasibility studies on Zambian hydropower developments, including the Itezhi-Tezhi on the Kafue and other smaller and medium-sized projects. It has also been involved in projects to increase the water supply to the capital, Lusaka. In Uganda, MWH is supplying engineering services for the 250-MW Bengali hydropower project on the Nile River. This $682 million project was started in 2007 and is scheduled for completion in 2011.

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