- Sinohydro has completed the first unit of a hydropower plant in Zambia.
- When completed, the plant will have a capacity of 750MW.
- The plant is expected to require an investment of $2bn.
Sinohydro has commissioned the first unit of the 750MW Kafue hydroelectric power station. The Kafue hydropower project is sited about 50 kilometres south of Lusaka on the Kafue River, a tributary of the Zambezi River. The dam is 139m high, with a crest width of between 8 and 10m, a length of 378m and a reservoir covering 80,940 hectares. When completed, the power station will comprise five power generation units of 150MW each. The commissioned unit already provides power supply to the state-owned Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) grid.
Sinohydro financed the S$2 billion investment for the plant and commenced its construction in November 2015, with commissioning planned from 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, delayed the completion of the project.
The Zambian government believes that the hydro station will “meet the growing demand for electricity in the country and surrounding areas and mitigate the electricity deficit, thereby supporting continued economic progress”. Zambia currently has an installed capacity of 2,800MW, almost all of which is generated from hydropower plants.