Zambezi River Basin

120

Itezhi-Tezhi Power Project

The proposed project would be in the Itezhi

Tezhi District in the Southern Province of

Zambia. A surface power plant will be built

adjacent to the existing Itezhi Tezhi Dam.

It will utilize the existing reservoir. In order

to evacuate the power generated, a 300km

220/330kV T-line will be installed from Itezhi

Tezhi through a substation at Mumbwa, onto

a substation at Lusaka West. Once completed,

the power station would generate about 120

MW of electricity (SARDC 2009b).

Kafue Gorge Dam Lower Project

The new Kafue Gorge Lower hydroelectric station,

south of the Zambian capital Lusaka, is expected

to have a capacity of 660 MW, becoming the

second-largest generating facility in Zambia.

It would be located in the Kafue Gorge, about

65 km upstream from the confluence of the

Kafue River with the Zambezi River.

Kariba North and South Bank Extension

Zambia and Zimbabwe plan to extend the

existing plants at the Kariba Dam. Extension

of the Kariba North Bank power station,

located more than 130 km south of Lusaka is

expected to produce about 720 MW when

fully operational.

Mphanda Nkuwa Hydropower Dam

The Mphanda Nkuwa power plant has capacity

to add about 1 500 MW of new electricity on

the regional power grid. The proposed dam is

70 km downstream of the Cahora Bassa Dam

in Mozambique.

Proposed Dams for Irrigation or

Domestic Use

With regard to the construction of dams for

irrigation or domestic consumption, one of the

projects identified for commissioning over the

next few years is the Matabeleland-Zambezi

Water Supply project in Zimbabwe.

The Matabeleland-Zambezi Water Project (MZWP)

is an ambitious proposal for the arid Matebeleland

North province of Zimbabwe. The project seeks to

address the perennial water shortages affecting

Zimbabwe’s second city Bulawayo, by bringing

water from the Zambezi River to the city. The

proposed project consists of three phases:

• Phase One: Gwayi-Shangani Dam

• Phase Two: Gwayi-Shangani Dam to

Bulawayo Pipeline

• Phase Three: Gwayi-Shangani Dam to

Zambezi River Pipeline

Another initiative is the Zambezi Integrated

Agro-Commercial Development Project which is

in two phases. The first phase involves extracting

water from the Zambezi into a 20 000 hectares

greenfield farming area about 50 000 kilometres

from Kazungula. The second phase supports

the Pandamatenga Agricultural Infrastructure

Development Project in Botswana which

involves taking water from the Zambezi River

to Pandamatenga area to irrigate the farms. The

specific objective of the project whose timeframe

is 2008 to 2012 is to develop appropriate water

control drainage system and access road network

in Pandamatenga (AfDB 2008).

Table 5.2. Future Hydropower Projects in the Zambezi River Basin

Source: World Bank 2010

Project

Tedzani 1& 2

Kariba North

Kafue Gorge Upper

Kapichira II

Kariba North

HCB North Bank

Itezhi Tezhi

Kariba South

Songwe I, II & III

Batoka Gorge South

Batoka Gorge North

Kafue Gorge Lower

Mphanda Nkuwa

Lower Fufu

Kholombidzo

Rumakali

Base case

Alternative case

Status

refurbishment

extension

new project

Utility

ESCOM

ZESCO

ESCOM

ZESCO

HCB

ZESCO

ZESA

ESCOM

ZESA

ZESCO

EdM

ESCOM

TANESCO

River

Shire

Zambezi

Kafue

Shire

Zambezi

Kafue

Zambezi

Songwe

Zambezi

S. Ruhuru

Shire

Rumakali

Country

Malawi

Zambia

Malawi

Zambia

Mozambique

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Malawi, Tanzania

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Mozambique

Malawi

Tanzania

Type

Pondage

Reservoir

Pondage

Reservoir

Reservoirs

Pondage

Run-of-River

Pondage

Reservoir

Capacity

(MW)

120

150

360

n/a

120

300

340

800

750

1 300

n/a

222

Capacity

(MW)

120

150

360

850

120

300

340

800

750

2 000

100

240

256

Operating

year

2008

2008-09

2009

2010

n/a

2013

2014

2014-16

2017

2020

n/a

2022

Operating

year

2008

2009

2010

2012

2013

2014

2024

2023-24

2017-22

2024

2025

n/a