Dear editor,
THE revelations by His Honour, the Republican Vice President Dr Guy Scott, that Maamba Collieries Limited will now be known as ‘Maamba Power Plant’ because it will be able to produce 600 megawatts when its Sinazongwe thermal power plant currently under construction is completed in 2014 is indeed good news.
Dr Scott further said the output of the plant will be able to address the power deficit the country is facing.
In the face of all this wonderful news is the unaffordability if the tariff is not handled now. Since Maamba Collieries Limited cannot supply the electricity directly to its consumers, it will have to offload the generated power onto Zesco Limited’s national grid by way of selling it to the public company.
And Maamba Collieries Limited will be categorised as an independent power producer (IPP).
Zesco currently sells its electricity at 5.70 US cents per kilowatt hour (US cent/KWH) and it then immediately becomes interesting to imagine what rate Maamba Collieries Limited will offer Zesco Limited.
It is important to note that IPPs and other investors in the electricity industry have expressed concern about the relatively uneconomical low tariffs in Zambia, hence their reluctance to participate in the electricity industry.
This leaves Zesco Limited alone in the industry, thereby putting a lot of pressure on it.
The minimum cost offered by IPPs and other electricity investors is 10.00 US cents, which is the price Zesco Limited currently pays the few IPPs it buys its extra electricity from.
That amounts to subsidising the cost of the power, which results in most instances Zesco Limited supplying free electricity to its customers.
If this anomaly is not corrected, Zambia will fail to achieve its vision of becoming a middle-income country by 2030.
This will perpetuate load-shedding.
MWANGO CHISHA.
118 total views, 118 views today