(Bloomberg) -- Zambia ramped up imports of electricity from neighboring countries, bringing some relief to consumers who’ve been subjected to lengthy blackouts as an El Niño-induced drought curbs output from its hydropower plants.
Zesco Ltd., the state electricity utility which buys power from South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., EDM of Mozambique and the Southern African Power Pool, was granted emergency tariff increases last month to pay for imports. The energy regulator will review the tariffs after three months.
“While Zesco aims to provide a consistent five-hour supply, the availability of power imports and other unforeseen factors may occasionally affect this schedule,” the utility said in a statement on Friday.
Most consumers, excluding mining companies, have only had access to a maximum of three hours of grid electricity a day due to the drought, the worst in more than a century.
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