Energy Minister for Zambia Dora Siliya has announced that the construction of the 300 megawatts thermal power plant in the country is almost complete. The minister revealed that 83% of the construction work has been done. She was speaking after touring the construction site for the power plant.
She said that the thermal power plant in Zambia will boost the country’s power generation capacity. Ms Siliya said that the government was working with private sector to enhance electricity supply in the country.
She asked the Permanent Secretary in her ministry to announce the names of those who want to invest in solar energy. The Minister said government will continue to encourage private sector investments into the energy sector.
She said that the involvement of the private sector will enable government channel resources to social sectors such as health and education.
The thermal power construction in Zambia has seen over 2000 citizens employed.
In recent years, Zambia has doubled efforts to foster power generation in the country. Maamba Collieries Limited is also working round the clock to add a substantial amount of energy to the national grid. Chief Executive Officer of the firm Venkat Shankar has assured government of the firm’s commitment to complete the construction of the thermal power plant.
The Zambian government intends to add a new 420 Megawatts to the national grid as a way of curbing power deficits the country is grappling with..
Among the short term solutions is the Itezhi-Tezhi power plant, which will come online end of this month, as well as the Maamba thermal plants which are all still under developed.
Other power projects for Zambia are the Ndola Heavy Fuel power plant, Chavuma Mini Hydro- Power plant, which will come online in 2017, as well as 200 Mega Watts Solar Power Plant, to be commissioned by early 2016.
Meanwhile in the long term, Zambia banks on 1 200MW Batoka power project, 1000 MW Luapula River power project and the 340 MW EMCO Coal fired power plant to rest assured of power generation.