Zambia relies on energy storage to overcome hydropower crisis
Faced with a sharp drop in its hydroelectric production due to drought, Zambia is stepping up its efforts to diversify its energy mix and secure its electricity grid. In this context,
Zambia has five large power stations, of which four are hydroelectric and one is thermal. A fifth hydroelectric power plant is under construction at Itezhi-Tezhi Dam (120MW) along with a coal powered power station at Maamba (300MW) as of 2015.
Zambia's installed solar capacity is 89 MW. Zambia has two utility scale solar power plants: French company, Neoen, and U.S. company, First Solar, own and operate the 47.5 MW Bangweulu Solar Power Station in Lusaka, of which the Zambian government holds a 20 percent stake through its Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
Only 43 percent of Zambians have access to the national power grid (67 percent of urban residents; and 14.5 percent of rural residents). ZESCO, a vertically integrated parastatal utility, operates government-owned power stations, and is responsible for maintaining and installing transmission lines and distribution networks.
Zambia's main hydroelectric power facilities are the Kariba North Bank Power Station (1,080 MW), Kafue Gorge Power Station (980MW), Kafue Gorge Lower Power Station (750 MW), Victoria Falls Power Station (108 MW), Lunsemfwa Hydro Power Station (56 MW), and the Itezhi Tezhi Hydro Power Station (120 MW).
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