- Zambia’s Maamba Collieries Limited (MCL), has reached an agreement with anchor lenders in relation to financing the construction and installation of an additional 300MW power plant.
- MCL has an existing 300MW coal-fired power plant operational since 2016.
According to ZCCM-Investment Holdings (ZCCM- IH), which holds 35 percent shareholding in the company, MCL has already signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with ZESCO for Phase 2 of the Project. ZCCM-IH Board Secretary Charles Mjumphi disclosed in a notice to the shareholders that it is expected that the construction period will be 24 months, from August 2024 to July 2026.
Mr Mjumphi said the Phase 2 Plant will be identical to the current operation and will consist of two generating units of 150 megawatts each, increasing the total number of generating units to four. “The new plant will utilise existing auxiliary facilities for support infrastructure such as the transmission line and coal preparation plant,” he said.
Zambia is in desperate need of new generation capacity to meet demand. Households and businesses face up to 12 hours of blackouts daily. Zambia has 2,800 MW of installed electricity generation capacity, of which 83 percent is from hydro, nine percent from coal, five percent from heavy fuel oil, and three percent from solar. Prolonged drought has seen a massive drop in power generated from hydro. Read more
Read more on all the power generation projects in Zambia HERE
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
