Harare (New Ziana)- Water levels at Lake Kariba have started rising due to inflows from rainfall activity around the lake, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) said on Monday.
In an update, the authority however said the water levels remain low for electricity generation.
The Lake Kariba is designed to operate between levels 475.50m and 488.50m for hydropower generation.
“The Lake level has started increasing in the past few days due to an increase in local rainfall activity on and around the lake, closing the period under review at 475.73m (1.66% usable storage) on 9th January 2023, compared to 478.30m (19.52% usable storage) recorded on the same date last year,” it said.
Lake Kariba has a capacity of about 180.6 billion cubic meters when full at 488.5 m. Of this storage capacity, and because of design considerations, it is only the upper layer of approximately 65 billion cubic meters that is available for power generation.
Zimbabwe is presently facing acute power shortages which have seen consumers going for long hours, outside the normal load shedding periods without electricity.
The situation, caused by frequent breakdowns at Hwange thermal power station, has been compounded by the water shortages in Kariba Dam which provides the bulk of Zimbabwe’s electricity supplies.
The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) which runs the Kariba Dam, wrote to the Zimbabwe Power Company last week directing it to stop generating electricity until at least January, when water levels are expected to have picked up.
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