Online Reporter
Martin Kadzere
Business Reporter
ZESA Holdings says it is implementing measures to mitigate potential power supply disruptions from the impact of the projected “Super” El Niño on the Kariba hydroelectric power station, including strict water management and increased generation at Hwange Thermal Power Station.
Responding to heightened climate concerns during the Zimbabwe Industrialisation Conference (ZICE 2026) last week, ZESA interim chief executive officer Engineer Cletus Nyachowe said the utility was carefully co-managing water usage at Lake Kariba with Zambia’s power utility, ZESCO, to build an adequate buffer for the upcoming year.
Kariba Dam is managed jointly by the Zambezi River Authority on behalf of Zambia and Zimbabwe power utilities, focusing on safe water storage, structural maintenance and regional power generation
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon driven by the warming of surface ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
In southern Africa, El Niño weather cycles usually trigger severe droughts, higher temperatures, and below-normal rainfall across the Zambezi River basin, severely reducing water inflows into major reservoirs.
“We are carefully managing the water consumption this year between us and ZESCO of Zambia and we will close the year at about 24 percent, which is quite a strong storage for us to go into next year,” said Eng Nyachowe.
Bongani Ndlovu