Zimbabwe’s long-running power shortage is set to worsen after the body that runs southern Africa’s largest dam ordered the suspension of power generation at its main hydroelectric plant due to water shortages.
In a November 25 letter seen by Reuters, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) told Zimbabwe’s power company that the Kariba South hydroelectric plant has used more than its capacity for 2022 and that the Kariba Dam’s useful storage is only 4.6% full.
ZRA manages the Kariba Dam on behalf of the governments of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
“The Zambezi River Authority has no choice but to firmly rule that power generation activities at the South Bank Power Station are completely suspended from now until January 2023, when a further review of key hydrological forecasts for the Caribbean will take place,” the letter said. .
For several years, Zimbabwe has suffered from acute power shortages as successive droughts have resulted in poor water flow into the Kariba Dam and aging coal-fired power plants have repeatedly failed.
The government has granted licenses to some independent solar power producers to try to increase supply.
Kariba South has an installed capacity of 1,050 megawatts, but production is much lower due to low water levels in the dam.
