Zambia has pulled out of the deal to co-build a 2 400- megawatts hydroelectric plant with Zimbabwe along the Zambezi River at Batoka Gorge as the country reportedly cited “improper procurement methods,” according to media reports.
The Zambezi River Authority, an agency jointly owned by Zimbabwe and Zambia contracted General Electric and PowerChina to build the power plant at Batoka Gorge at a cost of US$5 billion.
The proposed Batoka Hydro-electric Scheme is scheduled to be located on the Zambezi River, approximately 54 km downstream of the Victoria Falls and the project site is located across the boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Batoka HES was conceived in 1972 out of a study instituted by the predecessor of Zambezi River Authority, Central African Power Corporation.
The aim of the Study was to identify possible power sources which the inter-governmental institution could develop to meet the power demands of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
However, Peter Kapala, Zambia’s energy minister, has told the state-owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation in an interview:
“We are disengaging from that contract and we hope to re-advertise it and revisit everything that was agreed to before. Mainly, it was because of the cost, it was just too much.”
Calls seeking comment from Zimbabwe’s Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda were not successful.
“Latest information is that the hydrology of Zambezi might not favour the establishment of a 2,400-megawatt hydro-plant. We could reach that if maybe we do a hybrid of solar and hydro itself, but the indications are that we could be looking at far much less than the 2,400, it could be maybe even 1,000 megawatts,” Kapala added.
Zimbabwe and Zambia generate electricity at Kariba Dam, but production has often been disrupted as a result of low water shortages.
GE and PowerChina won the tender to build the power plant ahead of Salini Impregilo of Italy, a joint venture of Chinese firms Three Gorges Corporation, China International, Water Electric Corporation and China Gezhouba Group Company Ltd.
The project was to be implemented under a Build-Operate-Transfer financing model.
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