ZESCO (acronym for Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited) is a state-owned power company 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 ...

. It is Zambia's largest power company producing about 80% of the electricity consumed in the country. ZESCO represents Zambia in 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 ...

Operations

The company operates nine hydropower stations with a combined capacity of 2,217.5 MW and eight small

thermal power plants A thermal power station is a type of power station in which heat energy is converted to electrical energy. In a steam-generating cycle heat is used to boil water in a large pressure vessel to produce high-pressure steam, which drives a steam ...

with a combined capacity of 11.3 MW resulting in a total installed capacity of 2,228.8 MW. The company also owns and operates power distribution and transmission lines of 9,975 km. ZESCO has formed power purchase agreements with private companies that own power plants in

. It purchases the power produced and feeds is directly into the national grid. GL Africa Energy provides the national grid through ZESCO with over 105 MW of power under this agreement. ZESCO owns 40% shares in EL Sewedy Electric Zambia Limited. In June 2022, ZESCO signed a 13-year Bulk Supply Agreement (BSA) with

Copperbelt Energy Corporation Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) is a Zambian electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply company with operations in Zambia and Nigeria. The company is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (symbol: CECZ) Operations Zambia ...

(CEC) Plc. The power supply limit under the BSA was set at 380MW. ZESCO projects that they will earn an estimated US$ 150.0 million per annum from the agreement. These earnings are expected to translate into an estimated US$ 2.0 billion over the lifetime of the BSA. In July 2022, at the 94t
Agricultural and Commercial Show
in Lusaka, the managing director of the National Utility

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 ...

, Victor Mapani announced that the company plans to deploy Electric Vehicle EV charging stations across the country in an effort to accelerate and promote the transition to EVs and enhance carbon emission reduction.

Power stations

* Kafue Gorge Lower, 750 MW * Kafue Gorge Upper, 990 MW * Kariba North Bank, 720 MW * Kariba North Bank Extension, 360 MW *

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls ( Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "The Smoke That Thunders"; Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and anim ...

, 108 MW * Itezhi-Tezhi Dam, 120 MW * Maamba Collieries Thermal Power Station, 300 MW

Limitations

The national grid in Zambia only extends to some parts of the country. For example, it ends from the Ikelenge area around Kalene Hill in the extreme northwest, and as of 2008, ZESCO had no plans to provide power to this remote area. In response, some small-scale private operations have been established such as the Zengamina 700 KW hydroelectric generator. The Energy Regulation Board is encouraging private investment in hydroelectric power generation in view of the power deficit.

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