Zambia's energy consumption
Zambia's energy consumption landscape is characterized by a mix of indigenous resources and imports, reflecting the country's unique geographical and economic context. The country relies heavily on hydropower, which accounted for 91% of its electricity generation in 2021, with an estimated potential of 6,000 megawatts. Despite this potential, the development of small hydropower schemes faces financial constraints. Coal and biomass also play significant roles, with coal primarily consumed by the mining industry, while biomass serves as the dominant fuel source in rural areas, used mainly for cooking and heating.
Zambia's coal deposits are substantial, with over 944 million metric tons available, yet production has faced challenges, particularly at Mamba Collieries. Additionally, petroleum is entirely imported, underscoring the country's reliance on external sources for energy needs. The infrastructure for petroleum processing, exemplified by the Tazama Pipeline, plays a crucial role in meeting these demands. Increasing dependence on biomass has raised environmental concerns, including deforestation and air pollution.
Overall, while Zambia possesses a wealth of energy resources, the challenges of distribution, transportation, and investment hinder the full realization of its energy potential. The government is exploring avenues to encourage independent power producers to diversify the energy mix, including the development of other renewable sources like wind, solar, and geothermal energy.
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Zambia's energy consumption
Official Name: Republic of Zambia.
Summary: Zambia’s key problem is not availability of energy resources but distribution and transportation of these resources to areas of demand. The important factor in lack of development is the absence of modern and manageable energy services.
Zambia is a young nation with energy potential and needs to convert this force into high-level national development. It is a landlocked country, bordering eight other African countries. The neighboring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north; Tanzania to the northeast; Malawi to the east; Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south; and Angola to the west.
Zambia, with a total area of 467,655 square miles and an estimated July 2024 population of about 21 million, is one of the most highly urbanized countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with 41.8 percent of the population concentrated in a few urban areas alongside the major transport corridors; rural areas are sparsely populated.
Zambia has several natural resources, including metals, industrial minerals, and potential energy resources such as coal, hydrocarbons, and uranium. At present, indigenous energy resources such as coal, hydropower, and biomass, along with petroleum, are the major sources of energy.
In Zambia, proven coal deposits are estimated to be more than 30 million tons, while protected resources are estimated to be several thousand tons and are concentrated largely in Zambezi and the Luangwa valley. Coal exploration started in 1966 at Nkandabwe. The coal is bituminous and is extracted mainly through open-pit mining. Mamba Collieries Limited (MCL) is the main coal company, and it mines the biggest percentage of coal in Zambia. The consumption of coal is confined mainly to the mining industry (54 percent), followed by commerce and industry (37 percent), and only 9 percent in government and service sectors. Recently, new deposits of coal were found at Siankandobo, which is 22 miles away from Nkandabwe.
The contribution of coal to the total energy balance has been declining over the years because of operational constraints at Mamba Collieries. However, production is likely to go up with fresh investments in the mine after privatization. With an output of about 831,000 metric tons in 2022, and vast reserves of more than 944.999 million metric tons, coal was also abundant. Mining and industry consume nearly equal shares, accounting for all domestic coal consumption.
The country’s petroleum requirements are wholly met by imports from the Arab world. Iron ore accounts for 12 percent of the national energy demand. Its shares in the transportation, mining, industry, household, and government and service sectors are 4 percent, 27 percent, 14 percent, 3 percent, and 3 percent, respectively. Established infrastructure for petroleum imports and processing include the 1,058-mile Tazama Pipeline from the Dar-es-Salaam port in Tanzania to the Indeni refinery in Ndola. Indeni started operating in 1973; it is jointly owned by the governments of Italy and Zambia.
Zambia had a total installed electric generating capacity of 3.863 million kilowatts in 2022. Hydropower is another important energy resource in the country: 91 percent of the country’s electricity depended on hydropower in 2021. While the hydropower potential was estimated at 6,000 megawatts, the development of small hydropower schemes has been constrained by lack of financing. In order to develop new hydropower projects, the government has provided incentives to independent power producers (IPPs).
Biomass, which includes organic wastes, natural forests, and energy crops, was the dominant energy resource in rural areas, accounting for 72 percent of Zambia’s total primary energy supplies for 2021. In rural areas, households are solely dependent on biomass for cooking and heating. In addition, small and medium enterprises are also dependent on biomass fuel. In rural areas, it is consumed mostly in the form of firewood, while in urban areas, it is consumed in the form of charcoal. Other important uses of biomass energy in rural areas are for industries related to agriculture, pottery, beer brewing, baking, and blacksmithing. Increasing dependence on biomass fuel has led to several environmental problems, such as air pollution and deforestation in Zambia.
Biomass, hydropower, petroleum, and coal continue to be the major energy resources in Zambia. The country does, however, have a large potential for other renewable energy resources, including wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy.
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