The 750MW project is to be built between the tailrace of the 900MW Kafue Gorge Upper plant and, downstream, the confluence of the Kafue and Zambezi rivers.
IFC, which is part of the World Bank Group, is helping to develop the scheme to exploit the remaining 200m of head on Kafue river. The new plant would meet a quarter of the country’s electricity needs, most of which is met by hydropower. Power demand is about 1.6GW and is estimated to reach 2.5GW in five years.
The project is expected to cost approximately US$1.5B and take up to six years to build. MWH previously worked on the feasibility study for the Kafue Gorge Lower project as well as the Itezhi Tezhi scheme on the Kafue river, and also a series of medium-sized projects on the Luapula and Kalungwishi rivers, ranging is installed capacity from 60MW-300MW.
Plans for the structure and bidding by independent power producers (IPPs) for the Kafue Gorge Lower project are to be guided, on behalf of the Government of Zambia, by IFC.
Project preparatory work, such as by civil engineering and power consultants, and legal advisors, has been funded by the DevCo Trust Fund. MWH’s contract is to run to March 2010.
