ZRA update on current water levels at Kariba Dam

The Zambezi River Authority -ZRA- says water levels at Kariba Dam is improving and this would help power generation.

ZRA says the lake’s water level that has been decreasing has now started showing some increasing trend in the past few days.

This has been attributed to increase in local rainfall activity on and around the lake.

The period under review closed at 475.68m (1.32% usable storage or live storage) on 5th January 2023, compared to 478.25m (19.17% usable storage) recorded on the same date last year.

The Kariba Lake is designed to operate between levels 475.50m and 488.50m (with 0.70m freeboard) for hydropower generation.

Of late, Zimbabwe and Zambia have been struggling to meet energy demand as ZRA water allocation for power generation reduced.

Recently, Zambia increased load shedding to 12 hours, due to the impact of low water levels at Kariba, shared with Zimbabwe.

Last year, Zambia and Zimbabwe agreed a deal for 100MW, but the region-wide power crisis makes it harder for Zimbabwe to import more electricity from neighbours.

Zwnews