By JULIUS PHIRI –
ZESCO has said it is growing the energy mix by diversifying its energy sources in order to meet the growing demand.
Solar energy and other strategies currently being exploited.
Zesco director for distribution Dennis Banda said at the first ever  customer day held at Protea Hotel in Chipata on Thursday that Zesco had partnered with the Industrial Development Corporation(IDC) to scale up a project that would add 100 mega watts to the national grid by the second quarter of this year.
He said preparation by IDC to tender for another 150 MW was currently underway.
Mr Banda said ZESCO had initiated a lot of successful programmes to promote energy efficiency and conservation under the demand side management.
He said ZESCO had started spreading the hydrological risk to the Northern and Luapula water bodies thereby exploiting areas that had sufficient water resources to increase generation capacity.
‘’As a way to improve the reliability of supply on our national grid, ZESCO has gone into partnership with Independent Power Producers (IPP) such as the Maamba Collieries providing 300MW, Ndola Energy providing 50 MW and Lunsemfwa power station which supoplies 25 MW,’’ Mr Banda said.
He said other generation projects include the upgrading of Musonda falls power station from five MW to 10 MW, construction of the 750 MW Kafue Gorge Lower which would reduce loadsheding once completed and the developing of the 15MW Luwasi upper power station.
He said the upgrading of the Chipata-Lundazi-Chama transmission line, upgrading of Chishimba falls from six MW to 14.8 MW were also part of the projects.
Mr Banda said the power utility company was auditing energy utilisation in various sectors and how the large industries could reduce consumption of electricity and increase efficiency.
He said ZESCO would soon implement the ripple control system for load management on electric geysers in which the company envisages to save 100 MW from controlling 100,000 geysers.
He said the ripple control entailed switiching off geysers and other appliances in homes that consume a lot of electricity whenever the demand was high.
He said was further implementing the power factor surchage which would come into effect by September this year saying this was a mandatory requirement for large power users to operate at minimum 92 percent efficiency.
Eastern Province Minister Makebi Zulu said the newly constructed 330 KV of Pensulo-Chipata West substation was not being utilised fully by the people.
The minister said there was need to fully utilise the electricity by various entities by setting up valuable businesses.