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The Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) has urged the Government to address the power deficit through a private sector supported initiatives.
Chabuka Kawesha, ZACCI president, said on Friday in a statement that the Private sector was cardinal to addressing any power deficit and enhancement of energy security.
“There is need to give the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) bankable and creditworthy Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs),” Kawesha said.
He said there was urgent need to close the review and implement the energy sector reforms following the conclusion of the cost-of-service study (CoSS) and the recommendations made in the green paper.
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The introduction of cost reflective tariffs was one of the key bottlenecks sought to address in ensuring the financial sustainability of electricity energy generation.
Doing so would unlock private sector investments in alternative sources of electricity generation and improve the Zambian energy mix and energy security.
He said the Zambian government must immediately open discussions with the cooperating partners on how to unlock current constraints related to funding from foreign and local financing institutions as well as tapping into available power potential.
Zambia’s Energy Minister Peter Kapala announced last month in Parliament that Zesco will commence load shedding on December15,2022 due to the low water levels in the Kariba dam.
Kapala told Parliament that water levels in Kariba dam have been reducing on account of low inflows from the Zambezi River and over utilisation of water to sustain power generation has also worsened the situation.
The load management would be undertaken for a period of four months aimed at rationing water in the dam in order to avoid a complete shutdown.
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