BY STAFF REPORTER
Zimbabwe and Zambia suffered nationwide blackouts at roughly the same time on Sunday night, believed to be connected to a surge on power lines connecting the two countries to South African power utility, Eskom.
According to ZimLive, the outage happened at 8.15PM in Zambia, and at 8.25PM in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s state power company ZESA said “the national grid experienced a system disturbance resulting in a nationwide blackout.”
Zambia’s ZESCO, meanwhile, reported a “power system disturbance… leading to loss of power supply that has affected the whole country.”
In an update on Monday, ZESA said its engineers immediately “began the restoration process and we are happy to advise that as of this morning most of the load centres (regional sub stations) have been picked countrywide.“
Power was restored at around 3AM on Monday in most parts of Zimbabwe.
ZimLive understands engineers from ZESA believe the fault emanated from a surge on power lines from South Africa through which Zimbabwe and Zambia import power from Eskom. Zambia, in particular, has ramped up imports as its power deficit is graver than Zimbabwe’s.
People using electronic gadgets reported power going on and off in three spasms before it went out completely.
Zimbabwe and Zambia are both experiencing major power generation shortfalls due to low water levels at Kariba, which has forced ZESA and ZESCO to reduce power generation.
Zimbabweans are enduring power cuts lasting up to 18 hours a day as ageing thermal power stations constantly break down.
SOURCE: ZIMLIVE