After the completion of the dam wall and the power station kariba south power station quite a few impressive monuments were built in the early 1960s i. The kariba north station in zambia houses four 150 mw generators. The main purpose for the kariba dam at the time of its construction, and to this day, is to provide hydropower to the two countries that own the dam. In september 1956, engineers started excavation of the foundations for the dam and powerhouse for the power station on the south bank.
Kariba dam, concrete arch dam across the zambezi river at kariba gorge, on the border between zambia and zimbabwe. The underground powerhouse on the right bank houses six units, each with a power generating capacity of 100,000 kw. Kazunogawa power station is a 1,200 mw underground pumped storage plant in japan. In 1955, the federal government at the time of rhodesia and nyasaland zambia, zimbabwe and malawi called for tenders for the construction of the wall and power station. The precolonial population of the area were tonga the town was established to house workers who were constructing the dam in the mid to late 1950s and was constructed by the contractor costain. Sites yet to be developed include kafue gorge lower 750 mw, itezhi tezhi 120 mw, kalungwishi 210 mw, mambilima, batoka gorge 1,800 mw, devils gorge and kabompo, among others reeep, 2012. The structure is 420 feet 128 m high with a crest 1,899 feet 579 m in length and a volume of 1,350,000. It supplies water to two underground hydropower plants located on the north left bank in zambia and on the south right bank in zimbabwe. President emmerson mnangagwa has commissioned the kariba south hydro power station expansion project today.
It is situated in the northern province of zambia standing at a latitude of 12. Excavations of the foundations, construction of dam wall and power stations and the subsequent commissioning of the first generator took place between 1956 and 1960. The kariba south station in zimbabwe houses six 100 mw generators. Each country has its own power station on the north and south bank of the dam respectively. Designmethodologyapproach the case study area is lake kariba and kariba dam wall located in the mid. Power generation at hwange thermal power station has increased to 661 megawatts mw following the completion of refurbishment works at one of its units which had been inactive for years, energy. Kariba south power station in 1955, it was decided to dam the zambezi river at the kariba gorge to supply power to zimbabwe and zambia. At 128m tall and 579m long, the structure forms lake kariba. Power transmission to south africa was interrupted during the mozambican civil war but resumed during the mid1990s. Work on kariba south power station advanced the herald. Cahora bassa dam and hydroelectric facility, mozambique. The power stations extension project brings the kariba south power stations total capacity to 1 050mw. Hwange power station output increases to 661mw newsday. The two power stations were considered to be twin power stations and, therefore, the purpose of the visit was to do a comparative study.
Sites yet to be developed include kafue gorge lower 750 mw, itezhi tezhi 120 mw, kalungwishi 210 mw, mambilima, batoka gorge. To dam the great zambezi floodplain was in many ways a hopeful leap into the future. Kariba north bank power station with 660mw capacity to increase to 720mw by june 2010 and victoria falls power station with 108mw capacity. The scoping report for the kariba case study identified a large number of issues for detailed study in. The kariba south expansion project is expected to start feeding power into the. The project is part of capcs development program for the years 196976, which consists of the construction of the kariba north power station, the expansion of the 330 kv transmission system in zambia and southern rhodesia, and the installation of additional. Official pdf, 60 pages world bank documents world bank group. Both power stations were constructed in 1975 with a combined. The kariba north power station was owned and operated by central africa power corporation capco which, in turn, was jointly owned by the governments of southern and northern rhodesia presently zimbabwe and zambia. To rectify the deficit in installed capacity, zimbabwe power company zpc launched an electricity generation expansion programme involving initially the improvement and expansion of the existing 920mw hwange coal power station and the extension of the existing 750mw kariba south hydropower station. Zimbabweans are currently experiencing power cuts of as long as 18 hours a day because ageing equipment at its power plants keeps breaking down and outstanding debts to utilities in south africa and mozambique have slashed. Kariba south extension project to be completed in 2018. The project which was initiated by the zimbabwe power company zpc due to an acute power shortfall in the country, is currently 85% complete the project will inject two 150 mw units at kariba south power station and two 300 mw units at hwange power station.
The power plant on the south bank of the dam, which straddles zimbabwe and zambia, is producing just a third of its 1,050megawatt capacity. Kariba north bank power station which is owned and operated by the state owned electricity supply company zesco, was constructed in the mid 1970s at a. The south bank power station has staggered turbine intake levels, ranging from 459466 m asl to 451444 m asl, with an average of 447. A total of 10,000 people took part in the karibas plant construction, including workers, technicians, and executives. Kariba power generation depressed zimbabwe situation. Hydroelectric station community coordinates type capacity mw year completed name of reservoir river refs kariba south bank. Kazunogawa consists of four 400 mw generation units. The first obvious major benefit of the kariba dam project was the generation of electricity through the hydroelectric dam. The plants generating capacity constitutes nearly 60% of the hydropower outputs for zambia and zimbabwe. In 1955, it was decided to dam the zambezi river at the kariba gorge to supply power to zimbabwe and zambia. The dam wall is located at the former kariwa kariba gorge. An underground power station is a type of hydroelectric power station constructed by excavating the major components e. The dam was an initiative of the federation existing at the time between british ruled northern and southern rhodesia now zambia and zimbabwe and nyasaland malawi. These are power generation, tourism, reservoir fisheries, and utilization of the reservoir drawdown area.
Three years later and despite many difficulties, including record breaking floods, the zambezi river was dammed and lake kariba began to form. The station, whose capacity was affected by low lake water levels, can maintain its current output to the end of the year as kariba dam water levels, live water usable for power generation, have improved 33 percent from 29 percent in january, but still lower compared to 43 percent in the same period last year. Interconnectors with mozambique, zambia, botswana, south africa 16 grid substations or bsps. Anyhow, lets now talk about the kariba north bank power plants comprising the 360mw knbe peaking station and the 720mw knbps baseload station, totalling an installed capacity of 1,080mw. Kariba power generation depressed sunday news may 14, 2017 dickson mangena, business reporter power generation at the kariba hydropower station has remained depressed with the facility generating at just 50 percent of the installed capacity as the dam did not receive much water inflow from the just ended rainy season.
Kariba dam was designed by the french engineer andre coyne. The plant s generating capacity constitutes nearly 60% of the. The kariba dam evacuates excess water from the lake through its spillway made of 6 sluices located approximately 80 m above the river level downstream of the dam figure 1. Although the dam was designed with four spillway gates, the 1958. Kariba north bank plant and the victoria falls power station with 108 mw capacity wec 20. The zambezi river, kariba dam, kuomboka and the kariba. Both power stations were constructed in 1975 with a combined capacity of 1200 mw later upgraded to 1266 mw and recently increased to 1470 mw. The kariba dam is a double curvature concrete arch dam in the kariba gorge of the zambezi river basin between zambia and zimbabwe. Kariba is a town in mashonaland west province, zimbabwe, located close to the kariba dam at the northeastern end of lake kariba, near the zambian border.
Power generated at kariba supplies zambia and zimbabwe through the zambezi valley development fund, the zambezi river authority supports. A large amount of historical data on power generated at kariba and the financial costs thereof, were compiled in this study from records maintained by the zimbabwe electricity supply authority zesa, and the zambia electricity supply company zesco. The kariba arch dam was constructed between 1956 and 1959 across the zambezi river. Kariba dam was designed by the french engineer and inventor andre coyne. Flooding in the zambezi basin may put additional pressure on the. The dam was completed in june 1959 and the entire project started operation on 1st january 1960. Lusiwasi hydro power station is also classified as one of the small hydro power projects currently under implementation. Revenue from power generation partially funds debt repayment in zambia and zimbabwe. The expansion of kariba south power station is now 65 percent complete with the first unit expected to start electricity generation in the next 12 months, a senior official has said. After more than 50 years of providing power for the southern african region, the kariba dam now requires a series of rehabilitation works for its continued safe operation. Pdf conflict between wildlife and people in kariba town. As part of the tour of kariba north bank, your committee also visited kariba south bank power station on the zimbabwean side of lake kariba. Andre coyne, a french engineer, inventor and specialist in arch dams, designed kariba dam.
Zpc operates four thermal power stations and one hydro power station with a combine installed capacity of 1960 hwange 920mw base load kariba 750mwload following system regulation small thermals 290mw strategic reserve for dispatch during winter peak and major outages at hwange and kariba. Kariba south hydro power station to save zimbabwe millions. Zimbabwe power company powering zimbabwe into the future. The south bank power station is operated by zpc in zimbabwe and currently has an installed capacity of 750 mw, with projects underway to increase this to 1,050 mw. The kariba dam is a double curvature concrete arch dam in the kariba gorge of the zambezi. Kariba research station seminar series, bulleti n no. History of the building of lake kariba zambia tourism. A specialist in arch dams, he personally designed over 55 dams, kariba being one of them. Lake kariba, possibly the most important source of power to africa, measuring more than 5 500 square kilometres, provides a paradise to explore, with an everchanging kaleidoscope of views of infinity and of wildlife roaming the shores. Despite problems with pricing agreements between both countries, kariba power is still cheap in comparison to other sources of power in the region. Prior to installation of the kafue dam hydroelectric facility and the cahora bassa plant in mozambique, kariba was the only bulk supplier of hydropower to zambia and zimbabwe. The kariba south extension project in zimbabwe is on course for completion in 2018. There are 1,080 reasons why the kariba north bank power stations may never generate 1,080mw ever. This infrastructure was designed for a capacity of 12 mw with four 4 units.