| Work Detail |
The full rehabilitation, which also includes the remodeling of the plunge pool and the rehabilitation of the spillway gates, is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, according to the Zambezi River Authority.
Rehabilitation works at the Kariba dam wall are expected to be completed by the end of the month, which will help boost power generation by the Zambian and Zimbabwean electricity utilities, the Water Authority said on January 18. Zambezi River (ZRA) in a statement.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, the ZRA asked the Zambian electricity company Zesco Limited and the Zambian electricity company Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) to reduce electricity production levels to six hours at certain times. dates, in order to facilitate the cofferdam construction works as part of the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project Plunge Basin Remodeling Sub-Project.
With regard to load shedding by the Zimbabwe Electricity Company due to rehabilitation, the ZRA reports that after the works on the dam wall, "utilities were to implement measures to mitigate the resulting reduction in electricity generation levels in Kariba”.
The specific work under the basin remodeling sub-project that necessitated this need has since progressed and is expected to be completed by January 25, the ZRA continued.
Looking to the future, the authority said that the remaining rehabilitation works will not result in a reduction in the generation levels of the two power companies at their respective Kariba power plants.
"The rehabilitation work is expected to be completed by 2024 and aims to ensure the long-term safety and reliability of the Kariba Dam ," she said.
This rehabilitation project, which began in 2017 with a budget of $294 million, includes the remodeling of the plunge pool and the rehabilitation of the spillway (spillway) gates. It is funded by the European Union, World Bank, African Development Bank, Swedish government and ZRA on behalf of the Zambian and Zimbabwean governments, through a combination of grants and loans.
The Kariba Dam provides just over 1,300 MW of electricity to parts of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Each country has its own hydroelectric plant on the north bank and south of the dam . The infrastructure is operated by the ZRA, an entity jointly and equally owned by the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe. |
