US $2bn Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower station nears completion

Construction of the US $2bn Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro-power Station in southern Zambia is soon to be complete. This is according to the Minister of Energy Mathew Nkhuwa.

The billion-dollar project started in 2015. It is funded by the Zambian government and foreign financial institutions such as the Exim Bank of China, and is being constructed by China’s Sinohydro Corporation. The Energy Minister expressed satisfaction with the quality of the work being done by the contractors. He said that 51% of the work is complete and Chinese contractors’ delivery time is competitive.

Nkhuwa also expressed satisfaction with the state-of-the-art technology applied to the construction, adding that the completion of the power plant will go a long way in helping the country become an electricity hub in the southern African region.

Upon completion, scheduled for 2020, it is estimated that the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro-power Station will produce 750MW and is expected to increase Zambia’s power supply by 38%, which is sufficient to meet the country’s electricity demand for the next 5 to 10 years.

Apart from increasing electricity output for the country, the project also has many other benefits, including creating employment, setting up infrastructure, and a powerhouse and dump site for Chikankata road project.

Zambia, like many other African countries, has been facing severe power shortage, where only 25% of its urban population and 3% of its rural population have access to electricity. Even though endowed with abundant water resources, poor infrastructure has hindered the landlocked country from turning its natural advantage into stable energy source.