The newly-constructed Itezhi-Tezhi Hydro-power station in Zambia has officially been commissioned by President Edgar Lungu. The 120 megawatts (MW) station was constructed at a cost of US$142 million and funded by among others, banking institutions in partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
The inauguration of this project reiterated the government’s commitment mitigate and curb the current power shortfall caused by both global and natural factors.
The President said despite the challenges the country was experiencing, his administration remains on course to making Zambia an energy power house in the region and delivering electricity to every part of the country. This is being addressed through a number of key projects geared at addressing the entire power grid infrastructure.
This project is a brainchild of The Itezhi-tezhi Power Corporation, a joint venture company between Tata Zambia and Zesco and was started in 2011.
To further enhance the country’s power generation capacity, the President directed the Energy and Water Development Minister Dora Siliya to ensure all the pending electricity projects were completed.
President Lungu urged the minister in charge of Energy and Water Development to ensure all the pending and ongoing electricity projects were completed in time to increase the country’s generation capacity. He also noted that the remedy to many years of power deficit fell on all Zambians and appealed to politicians to desist from blaming his administration for the power shortage menace.
The power crisis was not unique to Zambia but a universal problem facing other countries and caused among other factors many years of sound investment in the energy sector extreme weather conditions such as mild rainfall. To further enhance the country’s power generation capacity, the President urged stakeholders in the ongoing construction of Maamba Coal-fired power plant in Sinazongwe District to complete the project by July