Zimbabwean Energy Minister Samuel Undenge says the $5 billion Batoka Gorge hydropower project Zambia and Zimbabwe plan to build on their shared border could start producing by 2023 and will generate electricity at a cheaper cost than solar or coal.
He said in an interview in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital that the two southern African nations will complete a feasibility study into the project by July, with construction due to start next year.
Zambia and Zimbabwe both face severe power shortages as years of under-investment are amplified by low water levels at the Kariba dam hydropower station that they each rely on for about half of total supplies. Batoka Gorge will produce 2,400 megawatts, about 30 percent more than Kariba, which is the world’s largest man-made reservoir by capacity.
