By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
LOCAL and foreign investors should take advantage of the liberalised energy sector in the country and invest more in power generation, an official in the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development has said.
Zambia has more than 6,000 Megawatts hydro power potential but only less than 2000 megawatts has been developed.
Chief mining engineer Fred Banda said recently that investors should take advantage of the liberalised energy sector to invest in the generation of electricity in the country.
“The sector has been liberalised and is regulated in a transparent manner which gives room for more investors to develop the energy sector especially in the area of electricity generation,” Mr Banda said.
He said the National Energy Policy aims at attracting new players observing that rising demand from mining and other sectors were creating the huge investment potential in the sector.
Zambia is one of the few countries in southern Africa which have concluded Power Purchase Agreements with Independent power producers.
Mr Banda said Zambia was keen to partner with potential investors in developing new generation and transmission projects.
The recent growth in mining, construction and agriculture sectors has increased the annual power demand by four per cent.
Lack of investment in the Energy sector will result in a shortfall of 547MW by 2015 and this deficit will grow to 1,180MW by 2025.
