ERB has granted a regulatory consent for Maamba Collieries and Zesco to sign a 265.5MW power purchase agreement (PPA). Zesco would buy electricity produced for a period of 20 years.
Maamba Collieries corporate affairs head Lavu Janardhan was quoted by The Times of Zambia as saying that the power line’s construction would bring the coal-powered electricity to the national grid facilitating the 265.5MW of the 300MW produced electricity.
Janardhan added that China-based SEPCO Electric Power Construction was building the transmission line simultaneously with the 300MW Coal Fired Power Plant on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis.
"Construction works are going on well as planned and the first unit is scheduled to be completed by October 2014 and the second unit by January 2015," Janardhan said.
Under the EPC contract, the Chinese firm will carry out various activities including planning, design, engineering, procurement, manufacturing, supply, inspection and testing.
Post completion of the project, this would be the first coal-fired thermal power plant in Zambia and it will meet local energy demands, according to Janardhan.
