New power line to boost export earnings

Zambia is set to boost export earnings from hydropower generation once a new US $12 million power transmission line to neighbouring Namibia is completed by next year, according to news reports. Angela Cifire, a senior public relations manager in Zambia's power utility, Zesco, said the current 66kv power line from the Victoria Falls power station to Katima Mulilo in Namibia's eastern Caprivi region would be upgraded to 220kv. Namibia's power demands in the area have grown, largely due to the irrigation needs of new sugar plantations and other commercial activities. The project, jointly developed by Zesco and its Namibian counterpart, Nampower, is due to be commissioned in July 2005, and will ease Namibia's reliance on expensive diesel-powered electricity generation. Zambia is also expected to start exporting power to Kenya and Tanzania in 2006 following the signing of a memorandum of understanding in March this year between the commerce ministers of the three countries. Zambia's power supply will rise from 200 megawatts in the first phase, to 400 megawatts in 2012, with communities along the path of the transmission line being served with electricity.