Maamba Collieries has attributed the recent forced shutdown of one of its two generation units to zesco’s failure to clear outstanding debts owed to the company so it can maintain efficient operations at its 300 megawatts coal-fired power plant.

Maamba Collieries Chief Executive Officer, Rear Admiral Venkat Shankar says due to a continued shortfall in monthly payments of its power bills by ZESCO, Maamba Collieries has not been able to keep up a robust maintenance programme at its modern eco-friendly thermal power plant-which has been contributing significantly to the energy balance of the country.

Mr. Shankar says the cash flow shortage has resulted in the company being unable to sustain quality proactive maintenance to the 300mw facility, and the recent forced shutdown of one of its two generation units, halving its power supplied to the national grid to 130mw.

He says the firm stands ready, willing and able to supply significant base load power to the nation but without payment from Zesco, its sole source of revenue, the company has insufficient funds to pay for costly spare parts and maintenance.

Mr. Shankar in a statement to Phoenix News says Maamba Collieries makes a significant contribution to the national grid, and provides a vital diversification from the reliance on hydropower that has proved so vulnerable to climate change.
Meanwhile, Zesco Limited has extended the outage period for the generator that was taken out 12 days ago at Maamba Collieries power station for repair works.

Zesco Public Relations Manager, Hazel Zulu has told Phoenix News that this is due to unpredicted circumstances that were encountered during the conducting of repair works on the generator.

Mrs. Zulu says this means that the current load-shedding of 15 hours daily which has been effected in order to protect generation installations will remain effective until the repair works are completed.
PHOENIX NEWS