“If the lights are out, people will think my store is closed.”
As the sun sets over Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, Emmanuel Simukoko explains why his business suffered during the worst power outage in memory.
Typically, he stays open until 11pm and makes a healthy living selling groceries, snacks and drinks to his neighbors in Kabwata, a middle-class suburb in southeast Lusaka. But this year, Zambians have experienced power outages lasting 21 hours at a time, and in some cases for days. The luckiest homes may have power for five hours a day, but that often happens at unpredictable times or in the middle of the night.
Simukoko, 33, is no longer able to sell cold drinks and fresh produce such as milk and yogurt, which is her biggest source of income. He can’t charge his phone, so he can’t accept online payments. And without lighting, we have to close early. “I’ve never been in a situation this bad,” he says. “I lost probably 30% of my business. I had to spend all my money on candles. It was just too much, so I gave it to people who looked up to me. I had to take on other jobs.”
According to one economist, Zambia has lost $1.3 billion, or 5% of its gross domestic product, due to the energy crisis.
Zambia’s energy crisis is caused by an unprecedented drought. In 2024, southern Africa experienced its worst mid-season dry spell. over a century El Niño brought record-breaking warm weather to the planet, leaving tens of millions of people food insecure. In Zambia, where 83 percent of the country’s electricity is generated from hydroelectric power, the drought has dried up the country’s lakes and rivers, reducing power generation capacity. only during that time 42 percent The Zambian population is connected to the national electricity grid and millions of people who depend on electricity for their livelihoods are affected by power outages.
“The crisis has had a huge impact,” said Nicholas Phiri, permanent secretary of Zambia’s Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. “We’re talking about people who run barbershops. We’re talking about welders, butchers, people who run hair salons.”
While the power outages have devastated businesses, the crisis has also wreaked havoc on the nation’s economy, with revenues falling as people pay fewer taxes and spend less amid rising prices. import cost and the depreciation of the local currency, the kwacha. Zambian economist Trevor Hanbai said the country lost about $1.3 billion, or 5% of its gross domestic product, due to the energy crisis. “Ultimately, this will further increase poverty levels in the country,” he says.
Climate change threatens to cause more frequent and intense droughts, and Zambia will remain vulnerable to such crises as long as it relies on hydropower. That’s why the country has recently focused on a more predictable type of renewable energy: solar power.
Emmanuel Simukoko at his store in Lusaka, Zambia.
freddie clayton
Zambia needs to provide electricity to homes and businesses on the grid during peak times. 2,400 megawatts However, due to the effects of the drought, available hydropower production decreased from 3,777 megawatts to just 1,040 megawatts. The 1,080-megawatt Kariba Dam power station on the Zambezi River in southern Zambia, which normally produces about a third of the country’s electricity, is at full capacity as the giant Lake Kariba reservoir nears record lows. It’s coming to a standstill.
Zambia currently ranks in the bottom 10 of the world rankings. solar rankingSolar power accounts for only 0.7% of the country’s electricity generation. But as power supplies from the dams begin to falter, the government has called for a “solar explosion,” with officials hoping that share will increase dramatically as the nation seeks to diversify its energy supply. I am doing it.
In March, the Zambian government signed a power purchase agreement with Canadian power generation company SkyPower Global, one of the world’s largest commercial energy project developers. 1,000 megawatts Amount of solar energy – Enough to power approximately 4 million homes. Announcing the deal, Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema said the project is “an important element of our country’s integrated renewable energy plan, especially in the current drought situation.”
Solar power projects have the potential to not only serve a rapidly growing population, but also provide power to people off-grid.
Three months later, Hichilema 60 MW solar power plant The city of Kitwe will provide electricity to nearby copper mines, which will help reduce the economic impact of the crisis on the country’s largest export industry. In August, Chisamba District, Central Province of Zambia, 100 megawatts of solar power The facility is expected to take up to two years to complete. Later, at the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in September, China’s Datang Corporation and Zambia’s state-run provider signed an agreement. agreement Develop three additional 220 MW solar energy projects by 2026.
On the other hand, the African Development Bank 8 million dollars Participated in financing the development of a 25 MW solar power plant in western Zambia. The Turkish company is also partnering with Zambia’s GEI Power to develop a 60 MW solar power plant with battery storage in the south, which will start operating in September 2025 and provide power to 65,000 homes. We plan to supply it.
Once completed, these projects will increase Zambia’s maximum installed power generation capacity by more than a third. The government aims to source at least 30 percent of the country’s energy from non-hydro renewable sources by 2030. This would not only alleviate the crisis during droughts, but also provide electricity to people currently off-grid and help support a rapidly growing population. .
A small-scale solar power plant in Namwala, Zambia. Part of a smart village built by Chinese company Huawei.
Martin Mbangweta/Xinhua via Getty Images
Johnston Chikwanda, an energy expert and chairman of the non-profit Energy Forum Zambia, says nature is “forcing major changes in the world”. [our] way of thinking. Zambia has come to realize that our safe haven is solar energy. ”
The country’s move towards solar power and battery storage is a trend mirrored in other African countries. Solar power is grow the fastest Large-scale facilities are operational and planned in South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Botswana in these four countries.
Still, Zambia’s utility-scale solar projects will not be fully realized for many years. Most of the equipment is imported, so just transporting the panels to Zambia can take months. China is currently 55 percent Share of Africa’s total solar panel supply market.
Meanwhile, the Zambian government is encouraging its citizens to invest in personal off-grid solar power solutions, and in July it removed import duties and value added tax on solar power equipment. “People are buying solar panels and batteries like crazy,” Chikwanda points out.
This year’s severe drought has led to unprecedented investment in solar power. And while these efforts are now mitigating the impact of the energy crisis on thousands of Zambians, those who fear the country risks facing head-on into another energy relationship dependent on weather conditions. There are some too.
Countries need to “embed the reality of climate change” in decisions about energy infrastructure, experts say.
Climate scientist Robert Vautard, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s working group, which assesses the physical science of climate change, said experts believe that “all regions of southern Africa are experiencing Further extreme weather conditions are expected.” a 2023 survey The research team, led by scientists from Australia’s CSIRO agency, also found that strong El Niño Southern Oscillation events, including the wetter La Niña phase, may be becoming more frequent and severe due to greenhouse gas emissions. did.
Tracy Ledger, an anthropologist who heads the Just Transition Program at South Africa’s Institute of Public Affairs, said Zambia and countries around the world need to “integrate the realities of climate change” when making decisions about energy infrastructure. says.
“It’s not just what a climate-neutral energy system looks like,” she says, “but what does a climate-resilient energy system look like?” “If we encourage households to install solar power on their roofs, what happens when the inevitable storms and floods come and wash them away? How can our energy systems withstand climate change? I don’t see a level of critical thinking about it.”
“In Zambia, we don’t always have very long daylight hours, unlike in near-desert regions like Namibia or Egypt,” says Kabwe Mbanga, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Zambia’s School of Geography and Environment. “We really need to do some research in this area before we can collectively decide that this is the direction we should take.”
Solar panels will power a grocery store in Lusaka.
Lilian Banda/Xinhua via Getty Images
The high initial cost of solar power generation also remains an obstacle. Small solar power devices may be useful for powering lighting systems or charging phones, but there are no cheap alternatives to large-scale business demands.
Moses Huwayanga, 43, owns a small fish farm near the shores of Lake Kariba, just a few miles from the power plant. He needs electricity to pump water from the lake to his fish pond, but due to a power outage, half of the pond is dry. His business is barely surviving. “We got a quote from China for solar power to help provide water during power outages, but it cost $10,000 for what we needed,” he says. “We don’t have that luxury. We live hand to mouth.”
Governments will also need support to integrate solar power into the national grid. Zambia’s Ministry of Green Economy and Environment has recently called for more international aid. appeal to india A manufacturing plant for solar panels, batteries, inverters, and other accessories will be established in Zambia. A 2023 agreement with UAE renewable energy company MASDAR to develop $2 billion worth of solar power projects in Zambia has stalled, but the company says the deal remains in place.
Although the prospects for solar power as a viable long-term energy solution remain uncertain, for many it is already essential.
For the University of Zambia’s Mbanga, more cost-effective and climate-resilient solutions need to incorporate hydropower, solar power, as well as wind, geothermal power and even coal. Zambia currently gets only 13% of its electricity from coal, but power outages this year have forced the government to approve the plan For the nation’s second and third coal-fired power plants. Power outages have also left many Zambians unable to light electric stoves, forcing them to use charcoal for cooking, creating huge demand for the resource, accelerating deforestation and reducing carbon emissions. This has led to an increase in
Mubanga said Zambia’s Ministry of Energy has also identified more than 80 geothermal energy hotspots and hydropower locations in the high rainfall north. “Both adaptation and coping strategies are needed,” he says. “For me, solar power is a good backup.”
However, the Zambian government hopes to be able to provide more than a third of the country’s electricity through “backup” by 2030. Although the outlook for solar power as a long-term energy solution in Zambia remains uncertain, it is already essential for many people.
Earlier this year, Emmanuel Simcoco bought a solar light for $27.50 that can also be used to charge his cell phone. “Everything is difficult without electricity,” he says as he prepares for his night shift. “With solar power, we can keep the lights on.”
