Zambezi River Authority allocates water for power generation at Kariba for 2024

THE Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has allocated 16 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water to be shared equally between ZESCO Limited and Kariba Hydro Power Company (KHPC) for power generation for 2024.

The move is a reaction to normal to below-normal rainfall projections for the Kariba Lower Catchment and normal to above-normal rainfall season for the Kariba Upper Catchment by the National Metrological Agencies of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In a statement, the ZRA chief executive officer Mr Munyaradzi Munodawafa urged the two power utilities to consider alternative sources of power to complement generation at Kariba to fill any power generation deficit that could arise due to the lower water allocation.

“The 2024 water allocation was informed by the 2023/2024 rainfall forecasts made by the Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum-27 (SARCOF-27) and the corresponding downscaled projections by the National Metrological Agencies of Zambia and Zimbabwe, which all showed a high probability of a normal to below normal 2023/2024 rainfall season for the Kariba Lower Catchment and normal to above normal rainfall season for the Kariba Upper catchment. This general outlook is highly influenced by the increasing occurrence of El Niño weather conditions, which are expected to significantly impact negatively, the rainfall season in Southern Africa,” said Mr Munodawafa.

He said the 2023/2024 rainfall profile outlook implies a high likelihood of below-normal Zambezi River inflows into Lake Kariba.

Mr Munodawafa said hydrological simulations carried out by the Authority using the Kariba Inflow Forecasting System (IFS) that is based on satellite rainfall measurements and numerical weather forecasts, providing short-term and seasonal flow forecasts, considered the high likelihood of a below-average rainfall season which, in turn, will likely result in below average inflows into Lake Kariba thereby negatively impacting the volume of water available for power generation during the year 2024.

“Accordingly, power utilities have been advised to consider alternative sources of power to complement generation at Kariba in order to fill any power generation deficit that could arise due to the lower water allocation at Kariba for the year 2024,” said Mr Munodawafa.