The water level of the Kariba dam, which provides 70 % of electricity in the country, has reached decrease records while the rainy season started in November.
MO12345lemonde with ap
The electricity shortages that strike Zimbabwe will worsen after an authority that manages the largest dam in the country said on Friday November 25 that the water levels are now too low to continue activities electricity production.
The authority of the Zambeze river, which manages the Kariba dam, joint property of Zimbabwe and neighboring Zambia, said in a letter dated November 25 that water levels have reached a record drop and that the electricity production must stop.
The Kariba South hydroelectric power station, which provides Zimbabwe around 70 % of its electricity, has produced much less than its capacity of 1,050 megawatts (MW) in recent years due to successive droughts: 572 MW on the 782 MW electricity usually produced, according to the website of the public electricity company, Zimbabwe Power Company.
The dam “no longer has water usable to continue to produce electricity,” said the director general of authority, Munyaradzi Munodawafa, in a letter addressed to the Zimbabwe Power Company. The authority “has no other choice” than to “completely suspend” the electricity production activities pending a revision in January, when the water levels should have improved, he Explained in his letter, widely relayed by local media last week.
aging infrastructure
In recent years, the authority has reported low water levels at the Kariba dam during this period preceding the rainy season, but not enough to interrupt electricity production activities.
Coal power plants which also provide part of the electricity are not reliable due to aging infrastructure that constantly breaks down, while the country’s solar potential has not yet been fully developed to increase significantly the offer.
In recent months, households and industries have been deprived of electricity for hours or even days, due to shortages.
The Herald State Journal reported, Monday, November 28, that the current extension of a large coal -fired power plant, Hwange, could therefore help to fill the shortages exacerbated by the closure of the Kariba plant if It is put into service as planned by the end of the year.