MWAIPOPO DECRIES UNDER-INVESTMENT IN ENERGY

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

THE under-investment in the energy sector has continued to limit power production in the country leading to power shortages especially heading towards the dry seasons where water levels reduce, Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD) Executive Director Isaac Mwaipopo has said.

Mr. Mwaipopo told The Scoop that Zambia’s dependence on hydropower had led to challenges of power shortages as at times when water became insufficient to generate enough electricity to meet the demand.

“Owing to the fact that Zambia depends on hydro energy, there are challenges that arise such as power shortages and these are challenges of under-investment in the sector as putting up adequate power plants requires planning and enough resources. So, due to low investment to ensure alternative sources of energy, we now face challenges of power production being constrained,” Mr. Mwaipopo said.

He said it was commendable that ZESCO was striving to partner with other entities to find mitigation measures by seeking power purchasing agreements with other potential producers of electricity.

He however said that as much as it was a good step to seek partnerships in the energy sector, such agreements should be done cautiously.

“As much as this will provide alternative positive possible solutions to the challenges being faced in the energy sector, our caution is that the agreements should be cautiously done to avoid being in a space where we sign agreements to produce power beyond the national requirement,” he said.

He noted that to date, over six independent power purchase agreements had been announced to be signed but little was known in terms of the conditions under which those agreements had been signed.

He said that more information should be known among stakeholders including the rate at which power would be bought and the amount of power that had been signed for in terms of actual production.