Zambia's leading mining company, Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), has teamed up with an energy firm in the Copperbelt mining region to build a long-awaited new power plant and help end crippling power shortages, local media reported Thursday, according to dpa. Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) chairman Henderson Sendoyi was quoted as saying KCM and CEC had decided to construct the 750- megawatt 1-billion-dollar Kafue Gorge Lower plant, which has been planned for years but for which investment has not been forthcoming until now, partly due to low prices for electricity in Zambia. The two firms have also bid to construct the 150-million-dollar 50-megawatt Kabompo Hydropower station "to avert further energy shortages and salvage the economy from collapse," Sendoyi said. KCM and CEC were hoping to obtain financing from foreign banks, the reports said. Zambians have been plagued by rolling planned power outages since the beginning of the year as state electricity supplier ZESCO struggles to cover demand. The blackouts have affected production at the country's mines. The south-east African country is one of the world's largest copper producers. ZESCO's current supply averages around 1,400 megawatts of power, 380 megawatts short of demand of about 1,780 megawatts. Zambia cannot import power from neighbouring countries as it has done in the past because the power crisis affects the entire southern African region. South Africa and Zimbabwe are the two other countries grappling with energy crises.
