Zambia cuts power from world’s biggest man-made reservoir

Bloomberg

Zambia has reduced hydropower production at the Kariba Dam because of rapidly declining water levels at the world’s biggest man-made reservoir that straddles the border with Zimbabwe, the energy minister said.
“We have noted the poor water situation for the Za-mbezi system nec- essitating reduction in generation at Kariba,” Mat-thew Nkhuwa sa-id, without provi- ding further details. Water outflows through the turbines at Kariba, which shows how much power they’re producing, is cut by 27 percent this month.
The dam has dropped to 43 percent of capacity from 85 percent in October, as inflows from the Zambezi River that feeds it dwindle. Flows at Victoria Falls about 120 kilometers (75 miles) upstream are less than half of what they were a year ago, and near a record low for this time of the year, according to data from the Zambezi River Authority, which manages the dam. Mines in Zambia, Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, account for more than half of electricity demand and any shortages could cut output of the metal. The Kariba hydropower station is Zambia’s biggest electricity source, with capacity of 1,080 megawatts out of state-owned electricity supplier Zesco Ltd.’s total of 2,337 megawatts.