. Ncube

By HELEN ZULU –
THE Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has signed an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) with Emco Energy Zambia Limited for the construction of the over US$1 billion coal project and power station in Sinazongwe district, Southern Province.
The 340 megawatts (MW) Emco power station and coal mine project is expected to create over 3,700 jobs at construction phase and 600 direct jobs at operation phase.
Emco chief executive officer Ajit Mishra said the company had already completed all developmental works for both the coal mine and the power station and would be committing US$1 billion for the construction of the facilities in the area.
Mr Mishra said the project which was expected to commence next year would benefit the local community in a huge way as the employment opportunity would start from the construction phase.
He said during the signing ceremony of the IPPA in Lusaka yesterday that the company would accelerate its efforts to raise funds for the project in order to meet the timelines as the project commissioning was estimated to take up to 36 months from date of financial closure.
“We started this Greenfield integrated coal mine and power project in 2011, starting from exploration and drilling of the coal concession area, mine planning, mine feasibility, power plant feasibility, environmental impact assessment studies, implementation agreement, power purchase agreement and the IPPA is a learning experience,” Mr Mishra said.
ZDA board chairperson Mary Ncube said the addition of 340MW of power would contribute to economic development of the country.
She said Zambia’s fast growing economy required an estimated potential generation capacity of 6,000MW.
Ms Ncube said the existing capacity was in the range of 2,200MW indicating a gap that called for more investment while presenting an opportunity for expansion in the energy sector.
She said Zambia was hungry for investments that spur economic activity and create employment opportunities for the people.