PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says he will not allow recurring load-shedding to continue as one of Zambia’s “traditional ceremonies” on his watch.
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The head of State reiterated that his government was resolute about finding short and long-term solutions to the power deficits that continue to dog the country.
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Speaking when he visited Maamba Collieries Limited in Sinazongwe yesterday, President Hichilema said the disruptions load-shedding had caused to the economy, has presented the country an opportunity to find a permanent solution to the problem.
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The President explained that in the short-term, his government was working at getting all the hydro generation plants working and supplying power while looking into investing into alternative sources of energy.
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The head of State asked Maamba Collieries Limited to expedite the maintainance works on its generation plant which produces 150 megawatts of electricity.
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Maamba Collieries Limited has two thermal electricity generation plants which produces 300 megawatts of electricity.
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The company, which is Zambia’s largest independent power producer (IPP), reserves 40 megawatts of power for internal use while the remaining 260 megawatts are sold to Zesco.
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But on January 4 this year, the coal-powered company announced a shutdown to one of the plants for routine maintenance.
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The company’s electrical maintenance engineer Berister Kasanga explained to the President that it was necessary to shutdown one of its plants to avoid emergency disruptions.
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But President Hichilema said better planning and timings should be considered in future when going for such maintainance works.
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He urged the company to expedite the works to lessen the impact of the current load-shedding which has mainly been caused by the low water levels in the Kariba reservoir in Siavonga.
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In the meantime, Zesco has split the 12 hour load-shedding duration into two halves.
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Zesco announced yesterday, through a statement, that the load-shedding schedule will be re-structured to a minimum of six hours, effective today.
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“This entails the staggering of the current 12 hours into six hour break. The changed schedules are intended to give customers some relief and will take effect on Monday January 9, 2023 untill further notice,” stated the Zesco corporate communications department.
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This development comes after President Hichilema’s directive to split the hours of load-shedding per area into six hour schedule so as to mitigate the impact on small businesses and households.
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Kalemba January 9, 2023
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