ZESCO Managing Director Justine Loongo says the national utility will only be able to release 14 megawatts from the new Mansa Solar Plant this December, far below the full 50-megawatt capacity, which will be transmitted to the national grid.
Loongo said the solar plant itself is almost done and ready, but the transmission line, which is supposed to carry electricity from the plant to the national grid, is still not finished.
Because of this delay, ZESCO cannot take the full amount of power.
Speaking during a visit to the US$48 million project in Mansa yesterday, Loongo said the plant was supposed to be officially opened in December, but the incomplete evacuation line pushed the plan backwards.
“We should have been commissioned in December, but the delays on the evacuation line pushed us back,” Loongo said.
He explained that since an important part of the transmission line is still under construction, ZESCO can only take a small portion of the power for now.
The full 50 megawatts will only be evacuated around March or April next year once the line is fully completed.
Loongo said that even though ZESCO can only take 14 megawatts for now, Luapula Province will still feel a bit of relief from load shedding starting in December.
However, the province and the country will only enjoy the full benefits when the entire line is finished and all 50 megawatts can be sent into the grid.
The ZESCO boss further added that the reality of evacuating only 14 megawatts this year has forced the utility to rethink its approach for future solar projects.
Going forward, he said, evacuation lines will be built first before the generating plant, to avoid situations where completed power stations sit idle waiting for transmission infrastructure.
The massive solar plant, built by ZESCO Limited in partnership with China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), sits proudly on a 50-hectare stretch of land, just five kilometres outside Mansa town in Chief Mabumba chiefdom.
Once fully switched on, the project will feed 50 megawatts of power into Zambia’s national grid, enough to light up between 15,000 and 20,000 homes and end power cuts for good in Mansa and surrounding districts.
By George Musonda
Kalemba November 23, 2025
