Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) is a Zambian electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply company with operations in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. The company is listed on the

Lusaka Stock Exchange The Lusaka Stock Exchange (abbreviated to LuSE) is the principal stock exchange of Zambia. Founded in 1993, it is located in Lusaka. The LuSE is a member of the African Stock Exchanges Association. As of 14 April 2022, the LuSE has 25 listed compa ...

(symbol: CECZ)

Operations

Zambia

CEC owns and operates an electricity transmission network in the

Copperbelt The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining. Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...

area with 246 km of 220kV power lines and 678 km of 66kV lines. The company purchases electricity from

ZESCO ZESCO (acronym for Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited) is a state-owned power company in Zambia. It is Zambia's largest power company producing about 80% of the electricity consumed in the country. ZESCO represents Zambia in the So ...

, the national power utility, and sells this across its transmission network to 8 Zambian mining customers with a combined demand of 520MW. In 2014 CEC supplied 4,208GWh of electricity to its customers which was 29% of Zambia's total generation of 14,453GWh. CEC also operates 6

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

generators at Luano, Maclaren, Kankoyo and Bancroft for emergency power supply to its mine customers with a total installed capacity of 80MW. CEC owns the Zambian portion of the

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

220kV interconnector line which has a capacity of 250MW and supplies electricity to mining customers in the Katanga Province. The interconnector is expected to be upgraded to a dual circuit with a capacity of 550MW by the end of 2015. The company is developing the 40MW Kabompo Gorge hydropower project on the Kabompo river in the North-Western Province of Zambia. CEC is a member of the

Southern African Power Pool The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) is a cooperation of the national electricity companies in Southern Africa under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The members of SAPP have created a common power grid betwe ...

(SAPP) and trades and

wheels A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to b ...

power within the pool.

Nigeria

CEC owns 45% of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) an

electric power distribution Electric power distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electric power; it carries electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers. Distribution substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmissi ...

company. AEDC has a franchise for distributing electricity in four Nigerian states, the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja,

Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was ...

Kogi State Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to t ...

and

Nasarawa State Nasarawa State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by the states of Taraba and Plateau, to the north by Kaduna State, to the south by the states of Kogi and Benue, and to the west by the Federal Capital Ter ...

and serves 700,000 customers. CEC holds a 20% stake in North South Power Limited which has a 30-year concession to operate the 600MW

Shiroro Shiroro is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Kuta, which has fifteen 5wards as follows: #Allawa #Bangajiya #Bassa/kukoki #Egwa/gwada #Erena #Galkogo #Gurmana #Gussoro #Kato #Kushaka/kurebe #Kwak ...

hydro power plant in

Other countries

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, CEC has signed a joint development agreement with the state utility,

NamPower Namibia Power Corporation, commonly known as NamPower, is the national electric power utility company of Namibia. The company is responsible for generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the country. Its activities are lice ...

, and Kudu Power Limited for development of 800MW-1,050MW combined cycle gas-to-power generation. The company also has a 60% interest in Arandis Power, the developer of a 120MW hybrid HFO and renewable generation plant in

Arandis, Namibia Arandis ( naq, the place where people cry) is a town in the Erongo Region of western central Namibia. It has been called the ''Uranium Capital of the World'' as it is located just 15 km outside the world's largest open-pit uranium mine, the ...

. CEC has signed a

power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...

(PPA) with the Government of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

for a 20-year concession to build and operate a 128MW thermal power project.

History

CEC traces its origin to a company that was called Northern Rhodesia Power Corporation established in 1952. In or around 1954, the company became the Rhodesia-Congo Border Power Corporation whose purpose was to supply reliable and secure electricity to the mines in Northern Rhodesia and the Congo by interconnecting separately run thermal power stations in the mining areas. Later, the company sourced and supplied hydroelectric power from the Congo to supply to the mines in Northern Rhodesia before the production of hydroelectricity from the Kariba Dam. At Zambia’s independence in 1964, the Rhodesia-Congo Border Power Corporation became Copperbelt Power Company (CPC), an entity that supplied electricity to the mines until 1986 when it was incorporated into the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (

ZCCM ZCCM Investments Holdings is a successor company to Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Limited (ZCCM Ltd), of Zambia. History The company, ZCCM, was formed by a gradual process of nationalization and corporate concatenation which began in Janu ...

) as its Power Division. In 1997, CEC was born out of the privatization of ZCCM - Power Division. Cinergy Global Power of the US and National Grid of the UK acquired the controlling stake in the company. The two investors subsequently sold off their 77 per cent stake in the company to a group of local entrepreneurs. In January 2008, CEC became Zambia’s first power utility to list on the

(LuSE) and remains the only one as of 2015. In 2013 CEC expanded its operations into Nigeria by taking a 75% stake in KANN Utility which in turn owns 60% of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company. In 2013 the company purchased a 20% share of North South Power Limited which has a 30-year concession to operate the 600MW

hydro power plant in

References

{{Reflist Electric power companies of Zambia Kitwe Companies listed on Lusaka Stock Exchange