MAAMBA Collieries Limited (MCL) has submitted a power purchase agreement to the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) for regulatory consent to sell about 300 megawatts of electricity to Zesco Limited from its upcoming coal-powered generation plant.
According to the power purchase agreement, MCL intends to design, finance, build, commission, own, operate and maintain a coal-powered generation plant with a capacity of 300 megawatts (mw) at a cost of US$700 million.
This is contained in a statement issued on yesterday by ERB communications officer Kwali Mfuni.
She said under the proposed agreement, Zesco is expected to undertake the design, engineering and construction of the interconnection facilities for the transmission of power in line with the development and connection agreement between the two entities.
Ms Mfuni said in phase one, the power plant will be able to generate 300mw, and double that capacity under phase two of its development.
She said construction of phase one will soon begin.
“While phase one is set to start soon, phase two will only commence when an off-taker for the additional power to be generated has been identified,” she said.
Ms Mfuni said MCL is seeking regulatory consent as a pre-requisite for securing financing for the project.
The project is expected to be completed in 36 months after the contractor moves on site. A contractor is being identified by the coal firm.
Meanwhile, Ms Mfuni said the board has received another power purchase agreement from Zesco for the selling of power to Botswana Power Corporation (BPC).
She said the power Zesco will sell to BPC is for supplying Kasane, one of Botswana’s border areas.
Ms Mfuni said under the proposed agreement, Zesco is proposing to sell up to 10MVA on firm basis at a voltage of 66 kilovolts for a period of five years.
She said a joint technical committee comprising Zesco and BPC representatives will be established to address the technical and operational issues of the power purchase agreement between the two utilities.
Ms Mfuni said ERB is reviewing the two agreements.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
That is indeed good.But we also needed zambians tobe part of the investers in the private power supplying companies.The government has opened up the olive branch.Zambians please wake up and invest.
thats a good initiative, if Zesco does the right thing they can get extra capacity and cut back on the load shedding, but i see politics coming into play if that happens export the power to the South Africans lord knows they need it.
More good news.
Terriffic stuff…
Nafuti nafuti
MMD Wabomba kwena. RB Nafuti Nafuti. 21st September another term of office. You need to finish what you have started.
At long last Maamba Collieries has woken up. Other institution that need to be woken up; ZAMPOST, NCZ, COUNCILS, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION and many others. They all have great potential if only they can be placed in the hands of people with vision
Great development.
Iwe #6 Maamba Collieries is a private company, the policy of selling power to Zesco is a private affairs between the new owners of Maamba and Zesco, stop taking credit for private sector enterprise what has the public sector done??
When the rest of world is trying to move away from power generated by burning fossil fuels we are okaying the construction of a coal powered electricity plant. Theres something wrong with our government! Whats the environmental council of Zambia saying about this backward development?
Not true Sir.RSA is expanding thermal plants.Moreover,what alternative power sources do we have?Solar(expensive and not suffient to meet industrial demand,China yet to start making cheaper panels),Wind(also expensive),Nuclear(do we currently have the capacity?we the situation in Iran,Korea),Hydropower(last week RB commissioned project on the Kafue,more potential yet to be exploited).Dont be cheated Sir.Lets learn to give credit where its deserved.
Within the next five years, Zambians across the country need to be enjoying cheap electricity with all the power projects in the pipelines.
#10, Winnipeg. According to the MEWD, Zambia’s proven coal deposits are over 30 million tonnes. Most countries have developed their economies on the back of coal as shown by their percentage of global total of carbon emissions: China-23.33%, USA-18.11%, India-5.78%, Germany 2.61% and Zambia 0.01%. Remember Zambia dependence on hydro has been a problem in the past when the rains fail. Despite the rhetoric on global warming there has been an upsurge in carbon emissions.