Solving SADC Region Energy Deficits
ENERGY is irreplaceable in the sustainable development of a country as it drives the engines of economic activities serving as a powerful tool in uplifting people's livelihoods.
Availability of affordable and reliable electricity supply in the SADC region is critical in attracting sustained flows of investment thereby contributing to quality living standards of the people.
Sadly, the energy shortages being experienced in the SADC region, has become a source of grave concern to governments as the power deficits have potential to reverse the significant economic gains scored so far.
Power utility companies chiefly in South Africa and Zambia, in a bid to minimally satisfy demand, have had to resort to load shedding much to the chagrin of consumers both domestic and commercial.
SADC Council of Ministers chairperson, Kabinga Pande, recently told journalists at the close of a SADC Council of Ministers meeting in Lusaka, that projections by the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) indicate that power deficits in the region would persist between 2008 and 2012.
"The SADC Council of Ministers has reviewed the status of power generation capacity in the region and mandated the Secretariat to liaise with member states in exploring alternative low cost sources of energy to address the current shortages," Mr Pande, who is also Zambia's Foreign Affairs minister, said.
Mr Pande explained that the council adopted emergency short and long-term measures to address the power shortfalls saying an enabling environment was required to stimulate private sector participation in power generation and supply.
"The council directed the SADC Secretariat to explore financing models that would facilitate joint development, financing and development of cross-border power sector projects," he explained.
Mr Pande said between 2008 and 2012, projects aimed at providing adequate and reliable power supply to the region amounting to 6,550 megawatts will be implemented and commissioned at a cost of US$ 5 billion.
He said: "It has also become clear that long-term projects will have to be implemented between 2008 and 2025 to provide additional power amounting to 44,000 megawatts at a cost of US$ 41.5 billion."
The SADC Council of Ministers chairperson added that another short-term measure to address the power shortfalls in the region was through the Short Term Utility Power Projects such as the Hydro Cahora Bassa to supply 400 megawatts. Out of this quantity, 100 megawatts would be used by Mozambique while the remainder would be available to the region.
The Council of Ministers further appraised the rehabilitation of existing generation units in Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, which will enable the provision of additional power amounting to 5,700 megawatts during 2008 and 2009 financial year.
The council further approved, during the meeting, a power conservation programme which entails the optimisation of energy as a matter of necessity, with measures of a 10 per cent reduction in consumption through rationing, power buy-back arrangements and penalties, based on experience from Brazil and California which have already started paying dividends where the initiative has been implemented.
"The council also learnt the ESKOM of South Africa has committed itself to continue supplying power to other SADC member States but at reduced commitments of about 10 per cent," Mr Pande said.
During his recent state visit to Madagascar, President Mwanawasa who is also current SADC chairman, observed that the problem of power shortage which Madagascar was experiencing was not only endemic to that country but the region as a whole, and that it was vital for countries in the region to share ideas on how to address the problem.
It came to light during President Mwanawasa's visit to the world's fourth largest island that Madagascar currently has only 200 megawatts of power against a national demand of over 2,000 megawatts and 4,000 megawatts in the long term.
In this regard, Dr Mwanawasa and his Madagascar counterpart, Marc Ravalomanana and the SADC executive secretary, Tomaz Salomao, underscored the need for Madagascar to devise short and long-term strategies to address the supply and demand disparities, including linking Madagascar power utility company to the SAPP, in order to benefit from other SADC countries' experiences and exchange programmes.
The two heads of state further urged SADC to devise short, medium and long-term measures that would mitigate the power shortages faced by Madagascar and the SADC region as a whole.
The SAPP meeting held in Lusaka last year projected that energy demand in the SADC region would hit 45,872 megawatts by the end of 2008 and 47,920 in 2009 and 48,795 megawatts in 2010 when the SADC region will be hosting the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and 50,291 megawatts a year later.
Zambia's Energy ministry Permanent Secretary Peter Mumba assures that no country has gone to sleep over the energy shortages affecting the region.
"As SADC, the problem of energy deficits affects all of us and we are saying let us pool our resources together as it is the only way we will surmount this problem, hence the interconnector projects. In this way we will be able to call upon each other in times of need," says Mr Mumba.
Zesco managing director, Rhodney Sisala, who accompanied President Mwanawasa to Madagascar, says while the power situation in the region and Zambia in particular, was serious, there is light at the end of the tunnel as efforts have been intensified to avert the problem on both short and long term basis.
Mr Sisala explains that Madagascar whose population is about 19 million, has available capacity of only 200 megawatts while Zambia whose population is slightly above 11 Million, has a capacity of 1,700 megawatts.
"We are seeing a rapid increase in the demand for power growing at an average rate of 100 to 150 megawatts per year and will continue to grow even at higher rates," Mr Sisala says.
He adds that for its part, Zesco has put in place strategies to address the power shortage among them the rehabilitation and the upgrading of existing power plants.
The other measure Zesco has devised is to build new power stations such as the Itezhi-Tezhi and Kariba North Extension while recently the power utility company signed a contract with Synohydro Corporation of China to extend the Kariba North Bank power station in a bid to forestall power deficits.
Sisala expressed confidence that the power deficits will be tackled once additional power generation projects currently underway in some countries in the region, including Zambia, are finally operational.
Mr Sisala's optimism was premised on the fact that Zambia alone has about 6, 000 megawatts of hydropower generation potential which when fully developed would have a great impact on energy needs in the region.
It is to the advantage of the SADC region that SAPP continues to make achievements in the electricity sector and ensure that electricity is not only made available and accessible to the people of the SADC region, but that it is also affordable to the majority of its citizens.
With an increased membership of SAPP from 10 to 12 countries, thus covering all mainland SADC countries, the region is estimated to have a combined total installed generation capacity of 52,743 megawatts.
Power shortage, power deficit, power outages, power black-outs, load shedding, have become common vocabulary in the SADC region.
The words can be in French, Portuguese or English but to the citizens of the SADC, they mean one and the same thing: loss of business, food going bad, no watching television, etc.
And without major improvements in the quality and quantity of energy for sustainable development, the economic gains the region has scored so far are under serious threat.
