Zambia asked South Africa on Thursday for up to 300
megawatts (MW) of emergency power to ease an electricity crunch that has
hit mining companies already grappling with a slide in global copper
prices, its embassy said.
Energy minister Dora Siliya made the request in a meeting
with South African President Jacob Zuma and his energy minister,
according to a post on the Facebook page of Zambian High Commissioner to
Pretoria Emmanuel Mwamba.
South African energy ministry officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Zambia's power grid can generate up to 2,200 MW, most of it from
hydropower, but supply is often erratic and output has been hit by low
water levels in dams stemming from a severe drought across the region.
The landlocked country, Africa's biggest copper producer after
Democratic Republic of Congo, was plunged into almost nationwide
blackouts twice last month.
By: Reuters.
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.
For The #FacebookTeam