The authority that manages Zimbabwe’s biggest dam has said that water levels are now too low to continue power generation activities and this is expected to worsen the electricity shortages that have been plaguing the country.
The State-run Herald newspaper had reported on Monday that an ongoing expansion of a major coal-fired power station, Hwange, could help plug the shortages exacerbated by the Kariba plant shutdown if it goes live by year-end as scheduled.
In a letter dated November 25, the Zambezi River Authority, which runs the Kariba Dam jointly owned by Zimbabwe and neighboring Zambia, said that water levels are now at a record low and electricity generation must stop.
The Kariba South Hydro Power Station provides Zimbabwe with about 70% of its electricity and has been producing significantly less than its capacity of 1,050 megawatts in recent years due to receding water levels caused by droughts.
Report on the website of the state-run power firm, Zimbabwe Power Company shows that the Kariba plant has been generating 572 megawatts of the 782 megawatts of electricity produced in the country.
Read also: India’s finance minister urges startups to focus on climate change solutions
In a letter to the Zimbabwe Power Company and the authority, the authority’s chief executive officer, Munyaradzi Munodawafa said that the dam no longer has any usable water to continue undertaking power generation operations.
“And we are left with no choice” except to “wholly suspend” power generation activities pending a review in January when water levels are expected to have improved”he said.
Story was adapted from AP News.
