My country, Zambia is plagued by a grave electricity shortage at the moment. Our National power supply company Zesco is seeing a 560 MW shortfall in electricity due to water levels falling at hydropower dams. well, such is the case for developing countries when you depend solely on one thing, thinking it will last forever, there has been a global call to climate action and i think 2015 serves to be the very best of the best emphasised years of action and for my part i have tried my level best to be apart of the piece that shifts the course of how we use resources and energy. The situation in my country is purely motivated by climate change and even though we didn't have entirely everything to do with the presence of this threat it doesn't mean we don't have to do anything about it, we have to play our part and evolve as the world is evolving. Mother nature has flourished for thousands of years then we happened to it, the capacity for human beings to develop is growing and this doesn't have to be a bad thing if we are also taking care of the future, not justing thinking for the present. whenever there are discussions of development, sustainability should be side by side with it not too far behind.
I and many others who had seen this threat have done countless echoes for change in the energy sector but no effect took place, it had to take something to actually happen to force government to act, now Zambia is aiming to feed 1,200 MW of solar power into the national grid by August 2016. PV is cost effective and viable source.for implementation by August 2016. This is Awesome, yes.. I know nothing changes overnight this could be progress but it could easily change if it profits otherwise because i also know Zambia is building a coal power plant set for completion in 2016 around October.
How are we solving a problem by causing another? the news of this coal power plant reached me late but nevertheless,, i shall gather forces and make some noise against it and at the same time I will personally push forward the solar power plant implementation on my own right and solicit government for help to adopt it. I know these are the times when Governments need the help of its citizens especially the young people. No time to critic, its time to push forward for my mother Zambia, the day is soon coming when my country will run flawlessly on solar power and other renewable energy sources. The Desertec concept is in play, here we go!
4 Comments
Solar power plant in Zambia by Aug 2016 is a good news and hopefully will tackle energy shortage issue to quite an extent. But the coal power plant is unwelcomed and it should be opposed by all people and corporates. Govt should think of building more and more solar power plants rather than this kind of coal power plant which is going to do so much of harm to environment , we all know . Thanks for sharing the situation and issue with us , Jack. All the best in your movement/mission to get it stopped.
Posted 31-08-2015 22:18
Hi Jack. Thanks for the report mate. It is sad on hearing about the energy crise in Zambia. I hope solutions for that can be thrived soon!
Posted 31-08-2015 14:08
Thanks Samuel! Duly noted, Petitions is a very good idea and shall start working on that. Lets make some noise and shake the coal deal
Posted 31-08-2015 10:53
Hallo Jack, thanks for the informative article.We as young people have to push towards adoption of clean energy ,the same situation face Kenya with government planning to build a coal power plant in Lamu .I think one way to approach this situation is to call for a petition, collect signatures across Zambia on how negatively the coal plant s will affect the environment of surrounding communities .As much as we are against dirty energy forms such as coal we should try to think how we can promote adoption of clean alternative forms of energy such a wind ,biogas and solar.
Posted 31-08-2015 08:40