WCA September 2013

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18 Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2013
The Southern African Development
Community is to commission new power
projects to increase electricity generation
capacity in the region.
Southern African Power Pool
coordination centre manager Dr
Lawrence Musaba said new power
plants were required to meet the region’s
rising electricity needs. “In the period
between 2013 and 2016, SAPP plans to
commission 17,856MW in an effort to
avert a regional power crisis,” he said.
Dr Musaba said Angola will increase its
power output by 3,610MW, while South
Africa will add 7,893MW and Zimbabwe
630MW by 2016. He added that there is
a need for incentives to attract more
investors into the sector.
Dr Musaba urged SADC countries to
start developing hydro-power stations,
not thermal ones.
“Member countries going forward should
build hydro-power stations as they are
sustainable, have a longer lifespan and
low maintenance costs compared with
thermal power stations. For example,
Kariba Power station began operations
in the 1960s, while Hwange thermal
power station was built in the 1980s, yet
Kariba is proving to be sustainable and it
is producing more than Hwange,” he
said.
Zambia and Zimbabwe are jointly
constructing the Batoka Hydro Electricity
plant on the Zambezi River, which is
expected to add 1,650MW to the two
neighbours. The SAPP estimates that by
2025 the SADC region will require at
least 102,871MW of electricity.
Southern African Development
Community – South Africa
Website:
SADC to boost output
❍
❍ Bakota Gorge on the Zambezi River
Kenya-Ethiopia
transmission project
The African Development Bank
(AfDB) has launched a $1.26 billion
transmission line project, to be
developed between Kenya and
Ethiopia. The project involves the
construction of 1,068km of
transmission lines, around 437km
in Ethiopia and 631km in Kenya.
The scope of the project includes
construction of the associated AC/
DC converter stations at
Wolayta-Sodo, Ethiopia, and
Suswa, Kenya substations, with a
transfer capacity of up to 2,000MW
in either direction.
The project is funded by a $338m
AfDB loan with investment of
$684m from the World Bank. Kenya
and Ethiopia have agreed to
contribute $88m and $32m,
respectively.
AfDB revealed that the French
development agency has also
expressed an interest to invest in
the project.