Zambia’s ZCCM-IH partners with Chinese firm to build 600MW coal plant

Zambia’s ZCCM Investments Holdings has agreed a deal with Chinese-owned Wonderful Group Services to build a 600 megawatt coal-fired power station at an estimated cost of nearly $452 million, the state-backed investment company said on Monday.

The plant will be developed in two phases with construction of 300 MW in the first before capacity is doubled in the second phase.

ZCCM-IH did not provide estimated timelines but said the second phase would be finished within five years of the completion of the first phase.

The project will be held within a special purpose vehicle called Ever Great Energy Company Limited, a subsidiary of Wonderful Group Services. ZCCM-IH plans to invest $54.2 million for a 30% equity interest in Ever Great.

It aims to close Zambia’s peak demand power generation shortfall of 1,400 MW and reduce reliance on hydropower as drier conditions hamper the performance of its key electricity source, the Kariba dam. Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer.

The project also aims to support mining companies as the country targets 3 million metric tons of copper output a year by 2031.

(By Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Wendell Roelf; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)