Load-shedding ends this year – Lungu

By SILUMESI MALUMOPRESIDENT Edgar Lungu said he will commission the 750 megawatts at Kafue Gorge Lower power plant being constructed at a cost of US $2 billion by the end of this year.The coming on stream of 750 megawatts will end load-shedding.President Lungu assured Zambians that once the power plant was operational, the power challenges the country had been facing would come to an end.Speaking yesterday when he addressed the fifth session of the 12th National Assembly, President Lungu said load-shedding had seriously affect the economy and the welfare of many Zambian but it would come to an end.He said that the country had power deficit of about 810 megawatts but with the coming on board of Kafue Gorge Lower and other hydro power stations and solar power plants, the deficit would be cushioned.Mr Lungu said Government was committed to ensuring that electricity generation in the country improved significantly.“My Government is not leaving any stone unturned, we want to ensure that power challenges which the country has been faced with become a thing of past,” he said.President Lungu said Government had invested enough in electricity in order to turn around things in the energy sector.Electricity, he said, was critical to the country’s economy and therefore it was the reason Government was investing significantly in the sector.“The construction of Kafue Gorge Lower has reached an advanced stage and by the end of this year the project will be commissioned. This is a major milestone in the power generations.“So the Kafue Gorge Lower coming on board and many other projects we are constructing, the 810 megawatts power deficit will be cushioned and the country will never face load-shedding,” President Lungu said.