By Charity Moonga –

FOR a long time now, Zambia has had adequate power capacity from its main hydro-power plants which has allowed the country to export to
neighbouring nations.
In the past few years, however, the country has been faced with a major electricity crisis as power generation capacity has not kept
pace with the development activities.
Power supply in the country has been outstripped by demand and there has been need for urgent solutions to cushion the situation.
According to the Government the demand for power has been steadily growing at an average rate of 150 megawatts (MW) per year but current
infrastructure developments in the nation have pushed demand too high.
The copper mining industry has experienced major development with foreign investors opening up mines, while old mines are being expanded
following a surge in copper demand on the international market.
The current capacity from the country’s major power stations is no longer able to support the country’s rate of economic growth.
In this vein, the Zambian Government is looking to alternative sources of power. One such source is the thermal energy.
The US$800-million thermal power project by Maamba Collieries Limited (MCL) in Sinazongwe, in Southern can be viewed to have heralded the
new era in the energy sector.
With 80 per cent of the works already done from the $270-million invested in the construction works in phase-one the coal-powered project is seen as a step away from the continued reliance on hydropower.
It is expected to add on stream not less than 300 MW of power, feeding into the national grid for distribution by Zesco.
The thermal plant, once completed in phase-two, would generate a total of 600 MW thereby significantly mitigating the current national power deficit of about 560 MW.
Zesco public relations officer Henry Kapata says that Zesco is working with MCL management to produce power using coal.
“As Zesco, we are partnering with MCL to produce thermal power,” he says.
MCL has also been engaged to construct a 330-Kilovolt double circuit transmission line from Maamba to Muzuma substation, owned by Zesco.
The Maamba Energy Coal plant will offload its power into the national grid, through the double circuit transmission line, which will run a total distance of 46 kilometres from Maamba to Muzuma.
MCL chief executive officer Venkat Shankar says the thermal power plant will not be dependent on rain-water.
The plant will use a low-grade coal from the mine to generate power to be distributed by Zesco.
Mine site manager Ramesh Gadde says once completed, the thermal plant will also have the capacity to generate up to 1,000 MW of power.
In the Copperbelt, Dangote Cement Plant has commissioned a $420-million cement project along with a 30-MW coal-fired power plant in Masaiti.
While MCL and Dangote have led the way in the utilisation of the coal to generate electricity, most manufacturing companies are still
dependent on Zesco power supply for operations and some of them are now losing out due to load-shedding.
Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe last week called on the private sector to invest in thermal energy to generate
power to supplement the current hydropower generation by Zesco.
Does Zambia, however, have enough coal for reliable and sustained thermal power generation?
According to Ms Mwanakatwe, Zambia currently has more than 780 million tonnes of coal awaiting utilisation.
“Government appreciates the role that the private sector plays in the economic growth of the country. We are therefore, calling on them to start investing in thermal energy in the generation of power.
“The country currently has over 780 million tonnes of coal awaiting would-be investors in the generation of power using thermal energy,”
she says.
Investment in thermal energy would help manufacturing industries continue with production of goods and services during power cuts.
She urges manufacturing companies to emulate Dangote Cement which has set up the 30-MW, coal- powered plant for its operations.
Instead of depending on the hydropower, the private sector in Zambia can take advantage of the abundance coal reserves the country is endowed with.
Apart from MCL, another coal mine also located in Southern Province is the Collum mine.
The mine has the capacity to produce 12,000 tonnes of the heating substance which is chiefly used by the mines for production of various
metals including cement per annum.
Apart from Maamba and Collum, Zambia also has the defunct Nkandabwe mine for which the ZCCM –Investment Holding is seeking an equity
partner to revive the operations.
Coal production at Zambia’s main producer, MCL, more than doubled last year as the company ramped output up to meet demand from various
end-users, the company says.
The coal mine operations achieved a breakeven in 2014/15 with a total volume of 100,000 tonnes of high-grade coal.
Experts say that MCL has the ability to produce adequate coal requirements for the country and that the seemingly lower production figures recorded earlier, are mainly due to the small coal market in the country.
The Private Sector Development Association, (PSDA) says the private sector has already started investing in thermal power transmission.
PSDA chairperson Yosouf  Dodia advises the government to critically look at and invest in the energy sector in the country.
He says the government should work with public companies and invest in thermal power generation so that the sector remains in the hands of the people and assist improve their lives.
“Most of the investors wishing to invest in the power sector in Zambia want to get a return on their investments within 10 to 15years so they will need the electricity tariff to be hiked to about 300 percent,” he says.
He says hiking electricity tariffs by 300 per cent, for instance, will not work for both the Government and the Zambian people.
The Government wants the electricity tariffs to be affordable to the people of Zambia and therefore hiking the tariffs would not be considered.
It is evident that Zambia currently has abundant coal resource and the onus is, therefore, on the government and the private sector to join hands to promote thermal power generation to counter the challenges of the current power deficit in the country.