All roads led to the iconic Kariba Dam yesterday as Zambian Ministers and senior Government officials toured part of the Kariba complex to appreciate the ongoing $294 million dollar Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project (KDRP) works and, most importantly, to assess the current water levels at Lake Kariba. In the recent past, lake levels have receded to levels that have caught the attention of both Zambian and Zimbabwean members of the general public and other stakeholders.
Leading the team was the Honourable Minister of Energy Hon. Peter C. Kapala, who was accompanied by Hon. Collins Nzovu (Minister of Green Economy and Environment) ; Mr. Kennedy Kalunga (P.S-Ministry of Information and Media-who was representing the Minister of Information and Media), Hon. Cornelius Mweetwa (Southern Province Minister) and Mr. Thabo Kawana (Ministry of Information and Media Director).
Prior to the tour, the delegation that converged at Sunset Villas in Siavonga barely three days after President Hakainde Hichilema’s visit started with technical presentations by ZESCO Limited and the Zambezi River Authority. Later, members of the press were addressed and also accorded an opportunity to ask questions about the current lake levels vis-à-vis power generation and load shedding.
DURING THE INTERACTION, ZRA CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ENG. MUNYARADZI MUNODAWAFA HIGHLIGHTED THE FOLLOWING:
That both ZESCO Limited and Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) have in the past exceeded their water allocation.
According to ZESCO Limited, water usage for the period 2018 to 2022, was as follows:
- 2018: Both ZESCO Limited and ZPC did not exceed their water allocation.
- 2019: ZESCO Limited exceeded its water allocation.
- 2020: Both ZESCO Limited and ZPC exceeded their water allocation.
- 2021: Both ZESCO Limited and ZPC exceeded their water allocation.
- 2022: Both ZESCO Limited and ZPC exceeded their water allocation; ZESCO Limited exceeded by 0.42% (allowable under the Water Purchase Agreement-WPA) while ZPC exceeded by 11.12% attracting applicable over-utilisation penalties.
ENG. MUNODAWAFA FURTHER REPORTED THAT:
- For the year 2022, ZRA allocated 45BCM and that utilities were advised to utilise water within allocation to leave 6% live storage (4BCM) by 31st December 2022 to support power generation into the second quarter of 2023 when flows from mainstream Zambezi River would start peaking in line with the hydrological cycle of the river.
- The 2022 water allocation was compounded by the need to have very lower lake levels to facilitate for dewatering of the plunge pool without raising concern regarding pore pressure from high lake levels.
- Over-utilisation of water by utilities and poor performance of Kariba lower catchment Rivers led to low water levels being recorded during the last quarter of the year 2022.
- Current lake level is 475.78 (0.28m above the Minimum Operating Level-MOL of 475.5m. (11 Jan 2023)
- Flows in the mainstream Zambezi River are expected to continue increasing going into February 2023.
- Lake levels increasing and projected to significantly increase by April 2023 in line with peak flows of mainstream Zambezi River.
- The upper catchment of the Zambezi River is recording increased water levels.
- The two utilities (ZESCO Limited and ZPC) will maintain combined average generation output at Kariba at 500MW, i.e., 250MW ZESCO and 250MW ZPC to the end of January 2023 after which they could increase to 400MW per power station as the flows of the mainstream Zambezi River further increase during both the months of February and March and into the second quarter of the year 2023.
- The DAM DRAINS (located at the foot of the dam) from which minimal amounts of water is discharged from the upstream side of the Kariba Dam to downstream in a manner also referred to as ‘leaking’ are part of the structural design of any dam infrastructure. They have no effect on the structural integrity of the dam and do not deprive the utilities of water needed for power generation as the discharged amounts are very negligible.
LASTLY, ENG. MUNODAWAFA APPEALED TO THE GOVERNMENT TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING ZRA IN VARIOUS ONGOING EFFORTS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING…
- The implementation of the Council of Ministers Resolution for ZRA to take full control of the water intakes to the Power Stations at Kariba in order to effectively regulate utilisation of water. Control of intake valves should facilitate closure of inlet valves immediately utilisation exceeds acceptable threshold.
- Plans to review the Tripartite Water Purchase Agreement to stiffen penalties for overutilization of water by the utilities.
- Plans to speed up the development of upstream Reservoirs such as the Batoka Gorge Hydro-Electric Scheme (BGHES) and Devils Gorge Hydro-Electric Scheme to improve operations through conjunctive use and pursue Dam synchronization with other dam operators.
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