News / National
Kariba Dam left with 4 metres before switching off
30 Jun 2019 at 18:37hrs | Views
Zambian media have reported that water level in Kariba Dam is left with about 4 metres before reaching the minimum height level for hydro-power generation.
Zambia and Zimbabwe use the dam for electricity generation.
The water reportedly lowered by 9 centimetres in the last week. The hydro-power station is designed to operate between the levels of 475.5m and 488.5m in order to generate power.
In February this year, Zambia and Zimbabwe reduced power generation to around half capacity at their power stations at the dam as water levels in the reservoir fell. They restricted themselves to 500 megawatts (MW) each from total capacities of around 1,000 MW.
"The Zambezi River Authority gave us an annual allocation of 19 billion cubic metres of water and this means we can only generate up to 500 megawatts each," The Zambian power utility told the media in February.
Zimbabwe has been facing massive power cuts in the recent past. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority announced recently that the country has entered stage 3 of load shedding.
In some areas, electricity can go for up to 16 hours.
Zimbabwe owes South Africa's Eskom huge sums of money for electricity that is imported from that country.
Contrary to reports that Zimbabwe had paid some money to Eskom, the South African firm said it has not received any money from ZESA. Minister of Energy has blamed the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for supplying him with false information.
Zambia and Zimbabwe use the dam for electricity generation.
The water reportedly lowered by 9 centimetres in the last week. The hydro-power station is designed to operate between the levels of 475.5m and 488.5m in order to generate power.
In February this year, Zambia and Zimbabwe reduced power generation to around half capacity at their power stations at the dam as water levels in the reservoir fell. They restricted themselves to 500 megawatts (MW) each from total capacities of around 1,000 MW.
"The Zambezi River Authority gave us an annual allocation of 19 billion cubic metres of water and this means we can only generate up to 500 megawatts each," The Zambian power utility told the media in February.
Zimbabwe has been facing massive power cuts in the recent past. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority announced recently that the country has entered stage 3 of load shedding.
In some areas, electricity can go for up to 16 hours.
Zimbabwe owes South Africa's Eskom huge sums of money for electricity that is imported from that country.
Contrary to reports that Zimbabwe had paid some money to Eskom, the South African firm said it has not received any money from ZESA. Minister of Energy has blamed the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for supplying him with false information.
Source - Byo24News
