WATER LEVEL DROPS IN KARIBA, POWER UTILITIES TOLD TO SOURCE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

 

By Diamond Media

The Zambezi River Authority-ZRA has has disclosed the allocation of 15 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) of water to be shared between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In a press statement released by ZRA Public Relations and Communications Officer, Fitzgerald Muchindu, says findings arise from the detection of a high probability of a normal to below normal 2023/2024 rainfall season for the Kariba Upper catchment.

The Authority says the general outlook is highly influenced by the increasing occurrence of El Niño weather conditions, which are expected to significantly impact negatively, the rainfall season in Southern Africa.

Further, the below average rainfall will result in below average inflow of water into Lake Kariba thereby negatively impacting the volume of water available for power generation during 2024.

Accordingly, power utilities have been adviced to consider alternative sources of power to complement generation at Kariba in order to fill any power generation deficit that could arise due to the lower water allocation at Kariba for 2024.