Online Reporter
Business Reporter
Zambia’s power utility, ZESCO Limited, could incur a penalty of about US$5 million for severely exceeding its hydropower generation water allocation at the Kariba Dam by the end of 2025.
The utility’s current water consumption for power generation means it could exceed its allocation by 4,7 billion cubic metres, according to the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA).
The projected overuse will trigger a penalty fee of approximately US$ 5,1 million.
Together with the Zimbabwe Power Company, the power utilities were allocated 28 billion cubic metres shared equally, for the 2025 calendar year for power generation.
“A slightly less damaging scenario, involving overuse limited to 2 billion cubic metres, would still cost about US$3,9 million in penalties but would leave a minimal 1,6 billion cubic metres of water in reserve for the next year,” says ZRA.
The ZRA is a bi-national entity jointly owned and equally governed by Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Its primary function is to manage the Kariba Dam complex and the water resources of the Zambezi River that form the border.
The dam houses two separate hydroelectric power stations: the Kariba North Bank Power Station (ZESCO) in Zambia, with an installed capacity of 1 080 megawatts (MW), and the Kariba South Bank Power Station in Zimbabwe with an installed capacity of 1 050 MW.
