- Zimbabwe and Zambia were hit by a synchronised nationwide power blackout on Tuesday at 1pm.
- South African power utility Eskom triggered the shutdown due to a surge in the regional power grid operated by the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
- This is the second national blackout in two weeks for both countries.
According to Eskom, the decision to cut off the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) – the regional electricity sharing network – was necessary to prevent “serious infrastructure damage” caused by the surge.
Zambia’s ZESCO imports electricity from Eskom and Mozambique’s Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) using Zimbabwe’s ageing and badly maintained transmission infrastructure. South Africa started to supply Zambia with 250MW in September. Read more
The increase is placing added strain on Zimbabwe transmission infrastructure, resulting in an over-current. When the surge was detected, Eskom acted to safeguard the regional grid by shutting down the SAPP system, cutting off supply to Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Both Zimbabwe and Zambia are facing a prolonged energy crisis due to the ongoing drought which has severely restricted hydro electricity generation at the shared Kariba facility. Read more
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
