Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation-ZESCO Limited says it anticipates a significant power supply gap from the month of September 2024 owing to the growing drought induced hydropower generation deficit which presently stands at 1086 Megawatts for August 2024 and 1280MW for September 2024.

In a press statement released by ZESCO spokesperson Matongo Maumbi, The expected power supply gap during September is attributed in part to the annual plant maintenance by Maamba Energy

Maamba Energy with a total installed power generation capacity of 300MW which has scheduled an annual plant maintenance to be undertaken in two phases from 27 August to 10 September 2024, leading to an unavailability of 150 MW of generation capacity while phase two which will be from 16 September to 30 September 2024 will see another 150 MW will be offline.

Mr Maumbi stated that as of 23 August 2024, Lake Kariba’s water level stands at 476.81 meters above sea level, representing only 9.05% of the reservoir’s storage capacity, a sharp decline from last year’s 27.53% storage capacity. He said With water resources nearing the minimum operating level, ZESCO faces the imminent challenge of potentially exhausting the remaining water reserves by 14 September 2024, which could lead to the Kariba North Bank Power Station shutting down.

Most businesses that rely on Zesco power supply have continued to incur losses due to the prolonged  loadshedding hours.

And with the  anticpated 17 hours loadshedding, some traders at Chisokone market in Kitwe say their businesses are likely to go under completely.

They have told Komboni Radio spoken that the impact of power outages is huge as it has not only affected the business but also the living standards.

They are appealing to ZESCO to devise strategies for implementing a more efficient and less disruptive power cut schedule.