Zambia power utility reduces electricity rationing

Zambia's power utility said on Wednesday that it had reduced electricity rationing after improvements in the generation capacity.

Zesco Limited introduced electricity rationing in June 2015 after the country was hit by a power deficit caused by low water levels in its key reservoirs due to poor rains.

Customers were subjected to electricity rationing of up to eight hours, a move that affected industries and forced some mining firms to downsize on their operations.

Henry Kapata, the company's spokesperson told Xinhua in an interview that electricity rationing had been reduced considerably following an improvement in the water levels.

He said the power cuts customers were experiencing in some cases was mainly due to faults and maintenance works.

"Do you experience load shedding in your area? Actually it is true that to some extent load shedding has reduced significantly," he said in a telephone interview.

On Sunday, Minister of Energy David Mabumba also confirmed that power cuts have significantly reduced due to the good rains experienced in the current season.

He said in a special interview on state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, that the government has also reduced on power inputs from neighboring countries.

Zambia's electricity generation plunged in 2015 due to El Nino weather phenomenon. About 90 percent of Zambia's electricity comes from hydro. Endit