Africa |
High time
Climate change impacts are being felt more keenly by African countries that are sharing water resources for hydropower generation. Recent research underscores the importance of integrating climate change adaptation into transboundary river management discussions
CLIMATE CHANGE MAY PREVIOUSLY have been considered by many Zimbabweans as being “merely academic”, but according to the country’s President Mnangagwa, this is no longer the case. The Zambezi River Authority’s recent decision to limit power generation at Kariba Dam, which has led to curtailed power production and daily power cuts across the country, is a clear sign that the region is suffering from the effects of climate change now, Mnangagwa added.
Writing in a newspaper column in early December 2022, Mnangagwa said that his country is “reeling from severe power deficits”. The 2130MW hydro project, which meets almost half of his country’s power needs, has been impacted by declining water levels at Lake Kariba that are occurring more frequently. Zimbabwe says it is now turning to thermal stations
Above: Lake Kariba is managed by the Zambezi River Authority on behalf of Zambia and Zimbabwe
to meet the shortfall, but this will still be far from the power required to maintain existing capacity in the economy. Refusing to get “sentimental” about using coal, the Zimbabwean President said while his industries are dying from power shortages, limited support for the clean energy transition is being offered
20 | March 2023 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
by those countries, whom he claims, are to blame for destroying the global climate. To tackle the current energy crisis, Mnangagwa said his country’s licensing regime needs to be expedited to encourage new players into the renewable sector, while Zimbabwe will also have to engage with other members of the SADC region who have surplus power to export. Lake Kariba is managed by the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) on behalf of Zambia and Zimbabwe. ZRA’s principal clients are Zambia’s state power utility ZESCO on the north bank with a 1080MW hydropower plant at Kariba, and the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) on the south with a 1050MW plant. Annually, the authority allocates ZESCO and ZPC equal quantities of water for power generation at their respective power stations, and both countries are currently experiencing desperate periods of load shedding following the drop in water levels. Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said the two countries “need to meet in a private family conversation”. He believes that maybe it is now time to review governance documents so Lake Kariba can be
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