A R1.8-billion power interconnector project, adding a new western leg to north-south transmission links between Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa will be officially unveiled at an investor conference in Namibia this week.

Dubbed ‘Zizabona’, after the sponsoring countries, the project is ranked as a Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP) priority project and a flagship African Union regional integration initiative.

Energy Ministers from the four Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries are expected to sign agreements supporting the construction of a power line running from Zambia, through Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to reinforce the SAPP power grid.

The feasibility has been funded by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and it is anticipated that potential lenders and investors will register their possible participation at the Swarkopmund event, which takes place on July 12.

The project’s first phase wheeling capacity will be 300 MW, but there is potential to double the capacity to 600 MW at a later stage.

DBSA’s acting group executive for the international division, Josephine Tsele, says Zizabona will become a landmark regional transmission energy project.

She adds that it will increase transmission capacity, as well as the reliability between northern and southern SADC countries, while facilitating regional power trade through the SAPP.

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