Zambia projects to increase power generation capacity

Zambia plans to increase its power generation capacity from the current 3,000 MW to 10,000 MW in the next 10 years, Minister of Energy Peter Kapala said Thursday.

The government is keen to attract more investments in power generation. Investments in solar power will play a major role in improving the generation capacity, he told reporters during a press briefing.

He said the country is also looking at thermal power to complement hydropower which was usually affected by changing weather patterns.

Zambia is looking at becoming a hub for power generation in the southern African region.

"We are planning to be the hub of power generation. Just look at our geographical position, we are centrally located. So we are going to have interconnectors to the countries that surround us so that we export (electricity) to them," Kapala said.