Zambia - Rehabilitation of Kafue Gorge Power Station Project

The proposed emergency assistance project aims at restoring 600 MW of the Kafue Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station before the end of 1989. The Kafue Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station, with an installed capacity of 900 MW is the largest power station in Zambia. It is situated on the Kafue River some 100 km south of the capital City of Lusaka. The rehabilitation of the Kafue Gorge Power Plant has been devised in three phases: (i) restoration of a first 300 MW capacity to enable ZESCO to meet the national power demand and stop importations as soon as possible. (ii) Restoration of an additional 300 MW capacity to made Zambia self-sufficient in energy and have a reasonable operating reserve. (iii) Complete restoration of the power station with the commissioning of the last 300 MW capacity thereby enabling resumption of electricity exports. The present support covers only phase (i) and (ii) so that Zambia will as soon as possible be again in a position to export electricity and resume making earnings from the sale of this commodity to its neighbor Zimbabwe.