As stakeholders may be aware, Government through the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP) has announced biofuel blending ratios for bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. For the current period up to 2015, there are as follows:

• Up-to 10% of bio-ethanol with petrol; and
• Up-to 5% of bio-diesel with diesel

The above proposed blending ratios will not require any form of re-configuration of the car engines and as such can be used without any problem on the country's motor vehicle fleet. 

With this development, biofuels can now be blended in the national fuel mix. The merit of including biofuels in the national fuel mix lies in the fact that it will translate in the reduction in the amount and cost of importing petroleum feedstock for refining at the INDENI Oil Refinery and also finished petroleum products thereby saving some of the country's hard earned foreign exchange. The utilization of biofuels has also the effect of enhancing energy security as the resources for their production are locally available within the country. The public may wish to know that based on the current consumption of petroleum products, the required quantities for biofuels per annum are estimated to be 21,000,000 litres for bio-diesel and 18,000,000 litres of bio-ethanol to meet the national fuel mix. The stage has already been set for the utilization of biofuels with the issuance of Statutory Instrument No.42 0f 2008 which provides for the inclusion of biofuels in the definitions of fuel under the Energy Regulation Act. This provision allows the Energy Regulation Board to regulate the production and use of biofuels in the country. As a consequence of this development, bio-fuels standards ZS E100 and ZS B100 for bio-ethanol and bio-diesel  respectively are now available with the Zambia Bureau of Standards. With these developments, Government is now ready to facilitate the blending of biofuels. Until further notice, Government intends to purchase all the bio-ethanol and bio-diesel that conforms to standards ZS E100 and ZS B100. The details of these purchases will have to be agreed on between the Ministry of Energy and Water Development and the biofuel producers. However, the bio-fuel producers will also be free to sell their products to any other interested customers as long as the required specification and standards are met.

It is the Ministry's desire that this statement has now clarified the many unanswered questions from potential investors regarding the implementation of the biofuels programme by Government in the country. In order to streamline the effective phasing in of biofuels in the national fuel mix, comments and suggestions on how the above can effectively be implemented are here by invited. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF LANDS, ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT, HON. CHRISTOPHER YALUMA ON THE PILOT LAUNCH OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMPS UNDER INCREASED ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY SERVICES PROJECT 

 Zambia today is witnessing an unprecedented level of infrastructure development which is in line with the government’s national development plans and the vision 2030. The government of the Republic of Zambia recognizes the role the energy sector plays in our country’s development. In order to attain the 2030 vision, where energy services are essential inputs to sustainable development in the economic, social, technical and environmental zones, the government has undertaken a number of actions to improve access to energy and to improve the sector efficiency by availing reliable and affordable energy in the distribution network. The project i am launching today demonstrates part of the efforts required achieving the vision 2030, namely, increasing access to electricity based on the national electrification master plan and improving customer service delivery.  The government of the Republic of Zambia obtained a loan from the World Bank, of which $1.350m has been used to buy energy saving bulbs through ZESCO. These efforts are being executed under the increased access to electricity services project,  which is being implemented by ZESCO on behalf of the Zambian government  for the procurement and distribution of one million energy saving bulbs to households.  

These CFLS commonly known as energy savers will be distributed in Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe and Chingola as a pilot study.The expected power savings from the distribution of one million compact fluorescent lamps is on average 66 megawatts (66mw). To put into perspective the 66mw, consider that currently Victoria Falls power station generates 108mw.

Therefore 66mw is almost equivalent to (a) and (b) stations combined. This can, therefore, serve almost two thirds of the area being serviced by Victoria Falls power station. It represents a huge amount of savings that can service a relatively big town, such as Mazabuka whose demand is about forty two megawatts (42mw). This can be achieved without incurring the huge cost of infrastructure development. If ZESCO had to develop such a power station, it would cost not less than USD 66m.

The bulbs have cost us only USD 1.350m. What a saving we would all make if we saved power by using energy savers! The distribution of compact fluorescent lamps will benefit customers in that they will use less energy on lighting which contributes an average of 20% to the overall bill. By using energy savers the contribution of lighting to the bill will be only an average of 4%!

“To promote sustainable development and management of energy and water resources in order to ensure availability of quality, affordable safe water and energy and enhance national socioeconomic development”.

PRESS STATEMENT ON THE FUEL SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY

I would like to address the public regarding the national fuel supply situation in view of the recent petrol shortages experienced in Kabwe on Thursday 29th December 2011. The Nation as of today, Friday 30th December 2011 has 7.7 Million litres of petrol at the Ndola Fuel Terminal and Indeni Petroleum Refinery which stocks translate to approximately 12 days of consumption for the market. The public may wish to know that Thursday 29th December 2011, the day that the fuel shortage occurred in Kabwe, the Refinery and the Fuel Terminal had approximately 15 days of petrol stocks available for the market. It should be noted that on Wednesday 28th December 2011, the day before the shortage, the Ndola Fuel Terminal had issued 1.4 million litres of petrol to Oil Marketing Companies which stock was enough to last for two days on the market including the day that shortage was experienced in Kabwe.  It has come to the attention of the Ministry that the shortage of petrol experienced in Kabwe was due to disruptions in supply of the product between Oil Marketing Companies and their respective Filling Stations. My office has since engaged the Oil Marketing Companies to resolve the supply disruptions to Filling Stations.  To this effect, I wish to confirm that since the afternoon of Thursday 29th December 2011, the fuel situation had normalized. By the morning of today, Friday 30th December 2011, filling stations had received 98,000 litres of Petrol and 48,000 litres of Diesel further improving the fuel availability in the region.In terms of national stock position, as of today Friday 30th December 2011, the Nation has the following stocks available for the market at the Refinery and the Ndola Fuel Terminal: 1.       Diesel – 4,351,000 litres which is approximately 3 days stock; 2.       Petrol – 7,760,000 litres which is approximately 12 days of stock; 3.       Kerosene – 1,319,000 litres which is approximately 26 days of stock; 4.       JET A1 – 1,035,000 litres which is approximately 7 days of stock; The low stock levels, especially for Diesel is because we are coming from a scheduled refinery shut down during which period available stocks were depleted. It is a common feature that after a shutdown, the Refinery time to achieve full production due to some teething problems that arise before full production is attained. Due to some fault that occurred to one of the units, the INDENI Refinery was not producing during the last weekend and the first part of this week and as such most of the fuel consumed was coming from imports. The situation has however improved with the Refinery achieving full production as of yesterday and therefore, stock levels will continually increase. We have also instructed the Supplier of finished products to increase on the delivery of Diesel on which we have the lowest stock days. Currently, stocks available for delivery in to the country include 40.0 million litres of Diesel in Dar-es-Salaam available up to end of January 2012.With the aforementioned, the Nation will have adequate stocks of fuel to satisfy demand and as such there is no need for the public to be concerned.

ZAMCOM PRESS RELEASE

The Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) Interim Secretariat Established*

The Zambezi river basin states have established an Interim Secretariat for the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM)is hosted by the Government of Botswana in Gaborone.

ZAMCOM’s goal is assist the countries that share the Zambezi to achieve regional integration through sharing the treasured water resources of the Zambezi river basin. The Interim Secretariat is expected to work with the riparian states of Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe to operationalise the ZAMCOM Agreement and establish a permanent ZAMCOM Secretariat.

The first responsibility of the Secretariat is to coordinate the riparian states and inform them of the expected steps needing their support towards the realisation of the ultimate operationalization of the ZAMCOM agreement and its vital governance organs.

Majority of the riparian states signed the ZAMCOM Agreement in July 2004.

The evolution of ZAMCOM takes pride in the influence it has had on some of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) water resources management instruments including the Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses, the Regional Water Policy and the Regional Strategic Action Plan on Integrated Water Resources Management and Development.

Water Resources Management

Energy Management

Water resources management is the practice of making decisions and taking actions of how water should be managed. These decisions and actions relate to situations such as river basin planning, organization, water development harnessing infrastructure, controlling reservoir releases, regulating floodplains, and developing new laws and regulations.
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Generally most people do complain of high electricity bills or the amount of money they spend on electricity units for prepaid meters. However they do little or nothing in ensuring that they reduce their costs.  A person who spends about K170, 000.00 on electricity can reduce the cost to about K90, 000.00 with proper use of electricity.
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