By JAMES KUNDA
 –

THE Government is reviewing the purchase and distribution costs of greenfield
electricity before encouraging investment in the roll-out of heavy fuel oil (HFO) power plants across the country.
Mines, Energy and Water Development Permanent Secretary Charity Mwansa
 said in an interview that in the current cost structures, fuel-based electricity was proving too costly for Zesco to distribute across all consumer categories.
She said sole producer of HFO electricity, Ndola Energy Company Limited currently supplies 50 megawatts (MW) of fuel-based electricity to Zesco, charging more for the service than the power utility spends on distribution.
‘‘Ndola Energy charges about 13 cents per kilowatt per hour, while Zesco only distributes at 6 cents per kilowatt per hour and these disparities are proving too costly for Government.
‘‘We are asking investors to be realistic and reduce the costs to within reflective margins so that electricity distribution is cheaper,’’ she said.
Ms Mwansa said the Government would engage Independent Power Producers
including Ndola Energy to find ways of reducing the cost of supplying fuel-based electricity so that it provides an alternative for hydro-energy.
Government had scrapped off the subsidy on fuel in 2013, a move that resulted in petroleum prices increasing by 1.9 per cent.
This resulted in an increase cost of production and distribution of fuel-based products such as the electricity from the HFO power plants.

Ndola Energy is in the process of constructing another HFO-powered plant adjacent to Indeni Petroleum Refinery for alternative electricity generation supply into the national grid.
NECL project manager Anders Langhorn said recently that the building of a second plant is, however, dependent on how fast the discussions between all stakeholders including Government will progress.