By JAMES KUNDA –

GOVERNMENT will import electricity and seek other sources of energy to mitigate the current power deficit in the country.
The power import would range from 150 to 200 Megawatts (MW).
Mines, Energy and Water Development Minister Christopher Yaluma said this in a ministerial statement in Parliament yesterday.
Other measures include the development of renewable energy sources.
In this vein, the construction of the 300MW coal-fired power plant by Maamba Collieries in Southern Province was ready for commissioning and would supplement supply.
Mr Yaluma assured the country that the Government would continue promoting fresh investments and the use of other energy sources beyond hydro-power to cushion the current shortage.
Government had also terminated selected contracts of electricity exports to neighbouring countries while others were under review as the bilateral agreements were signed when the country had surplus energy.
The water levels at the Kariba and Itezhi-tezhi reservoirs have drastically reduced due to poor rainfall in the 2014 to 2015 rainy season forcing the Zambezi River Authority to ration water used for power generation by 10 per cent.
“We are aware of the adverse impact of load shedding hence the move to explore available short to medium term avenues to address the situation. Let me also inform the House that Government has terminated contracts for electricity exports save for those that cannot be stopped abruptly due to legal implications,” he said.
He said the running contracts only provided for the export of 90 MW of power while the move to terminate other supplies had resulted in the country saving substantial amounts of electricity.
He said Zesco had in turn lost US$116 million on account of rationing power to each customer for at least 10 hours each day.
The essence of load shedding was to preserve the electricity generation equipment as it could not operate on insufficient stocks.
The country has been experiencing an intense load-shedding programme, in some instances power interruptions range between six to 10 hours in various parts of the country.