Zambezi River Authority reduces power generation water allocation
THE Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has indicated that due to reduced water inflows in Lake Kariba, it slashed water allocation for power generation at Kariba hydropower station from 40 billion cubic metres (BCM) to 30 BCM in the first quarter of the year.
The authority reduced water allocation to be shared equally between Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and ZESCO of Zambia at their respective stations at Kariba.
ZPC and ZESCO share water from Lake Kariba for hydroelectricity generation.
In an update on Tuesday, ZRA chief executive officer, Mr Munyaradzi Munodawafa said with the 2022/23 rainfall season having effectively ended in April 2023, the Kariba Catchment is no longer experiencing any rainfall activities.
He noted that as per normal trend following the end of a rainfall season, flows of the Zambezi River and its tributaries are now receding and this downward trend is expected to continue until the commencement of the next rainfall season (2023/2024 rainfall season).
He said the Zambezi River flows recorded in Victoria Falls indicate a recession from the start of June 2023. The flow recorded on Tuesday was 950 cubic metres per second (m3/s).
“The flow recorded on the same date in 2022 was lower at 873 m3/s. The highest peak reached at this station under the now ended 2022/2023 rainfall season was 2,718 m3/s recorded on 27th May 2023. The current recession will continue up to the time the 2023/2024 rainfall season commences,” he said.
Lake Kariba
Mr Munodawafa said Lake Kariba water level has risen from being just over the Minimum Operating Level of 475m in January 2023 to over 479 m recorded as the month of June 2023 ended.
On Tuesday, the recorded lake level was 479.87m which translates to 20 BCM or 30.87 percent of usable storage meant for power generation by the two utilities — ZESCO Limited and Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) that operate the Kariba North Bank Power Station and Kariba South Power Station, respectively.
Zimbabwe-Power-Company
In comparison to the same date in 2022, Mr Munodawafa said the recorded lake level was 479,94m with 20.33 BCM of usable water or 31,37 percent live storage. The current level places the lake at 4,37 meters above the Minimum Operating Level (MOL) of 475,50m.
He indicated that the authority allocated 40 BCM in September 2022 for the power generation in 2023 at the Kariba Complex to be shared equally between ZPC-owned Kariba South Bank and ZESCO Ltd-owned Kariba North Bank power stations.
The allocation was informed by projections from the Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF)-26 that was held in August 2022 and further reconfirmed by the downscaled positions of the metrological agencies of Zambia and Zimbabwe, which both projected that the SADC and Kariba catchment region was to experience normal to above normal for the 2022/23 rainfall season.
“The actual performance of the 2022/23 rainfall season for the lower Kariba catchment, however, turned out to be normal to below normal.
“Accordingly, through the first quarter hydrological analysis, the Authority reduced the water allocation from 40 BCM to 30 BCM to be shared equally between ZESCO and ZPC at their Kariba Stations,” ZRA said.-chronicle
