KELLY NJOMBO, Lusaka
ZESCO has commissioned the 330 kilovolts (kv) Muzuma substation in Choma which will receive power from the Maamba thermal plant to feed into the national grid.
This development is expected to cushion the current power deficit in the country.
According to a statement availed to the Daily Mail recently, the company has further continued to upgrade the Kafue 220kv transmission line to Livingstone so that power can be transported at a very high level.
Currently, the 220kv transmission line from Kafue to Livingstone can only accommodate about 218 megawatts (MWs), but once upgraded to 330 kv, the line should be able to accommodate about 600MWs.
“Zesco has temporarily commissioned the 330kv Muzuma temporal substation in Choma to export power from the Maamba thermal plant into the national grid by stepping it down to 220kv in Kafue to the Livingstone transmission line.”
“The added MWs will be able to cushion the load shedding the country has been experiencing due to poor rainfall patterns,” the statement says.
It says the project entails that the utility company is headed in the right direction in terms of diversification by utilising other sources of energy other than over reliance on hydro power.
The utility company has partnered with Maamba Thermal Power plant by upgrading transmission lines to accommodate the set plan of generating 600MWs of electricity from Maamba Thermal Power Plant, which is scheduled to commence this year.