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 ...

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 of G ...

. The company is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (symbol: CECZ)

Operations

Zambia

CEC owns and operates an electricity

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual 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 S ...

, 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 220kV

interconnector An interconnector (also known as a DC tie in the USA) is a structure which enables high voltage DC electricity to flow between electrical grids. An electrical interconnector allows electricity to flow between separate AC networks, or to link sy ...

line which has a capacity of 250MW and supplies electricity to mining customers in the

Katanga Province Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba, ...

. 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 The Kabompo River is one of the main tributaries of the upper Zambezi River. It flows entirely in Zambia, rising to the east of the source of the Zambezi, in North-Western Province along the watershed between the Zambezi and Congo river basins ...

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 be ...

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 the ...

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 Terr ...

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 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 e ...

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

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 Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodes ...

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 The Kariba Dam is a double curvature concrete arch dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The dam stands tall and long. The dam forms Lake Kariba, which extends for and holds of water. Construction ...

. 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) 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 Lusaka Stock Exchange (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 Shiroro hydro power plant in

References

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