By JOHN SAKALA
Maamba Collieries fires 135 megawatts into the national grid to reducing the deficit from 810mw to 675mw a slow claw back to normalcy.
Speaking to The Independent Observer in an interview Energy Minister Matthew Nkhuwa said Maamba Collieries will add another 135mw to national grid in the first week of January.
Mr Nkhuwa said the situation at Kariba Dam has been very bad and the lifeline from Maamba Collieries is a shot in the arm.
He said water levels at Kariba Dam has continued receding, thereby negatively affecting the intervention measures government is putting in place.
Among the measures which government has put in place are the importation of 300mw of power from South Africa and now the addition of 135mw from Maamba Collieries.
“We are at 8.4 per cent of water levels at Kariba Dam as of today but last year the same time we were at 51.7 per cent. This means the deficit is still huge. We hope to begin reducing hours of load shedding by the end of January.
“If we can get another 135mw from Maamba Collieries and it continues to rain properly, the hours of load shedding will be reduced because we will be able to run the turbines that we have put on standby for fear of being damaged,” he said.
See daily hydrological report.
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