coal
32
08.13
T
he remaining 35 % shareholding in MCL is
held by the Government of the Republic of
Zambia through Zambia Consolidated Cop-
per Mines-Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH). This is a
listed Zambian government investment holding com-
pany which has investments in diversified industrial
sectors and power distribution across Zambia.
MCL will supply electricity to the Zambia Electrici-
ty Supply Corporation (ZESCO) via a 330 kV line cur-
rently under construction for onward transmission to
the Zambian market. Zambia has been experiencing
intermittent electricity black-outs as a result of high
electricity demand against limited generation capac-
ity by ZESCO and the new power plant will help ease
the situation.
NBV runs businesses with a total investment at
present that exceeds US$1 billion and has now ex-
panded into Zambia where it is making large invest-
ments in coal mining and thermal power generation.
About 38 per cent of the work for the construc-
tion of the 2 x 150 MW Maamba Collieries coal-fired
electricity generation plant has been completed. The
commissioning of the first phase of the power plant is
set for October 2014. The facility will utilise the ther-
mal low grade coal reserves and also rejects from the
Coal Handling and Processing Plant (CHPP).
The CHPP grades the coal into various specifications
and washes it according to customer requirements.
Previously, rejects were dumped within the mining
area and this posed a challenge to the environment.
Construction of
Maamba
power plant well advanced
Singapore-based Nava Bharat Ventures (NBV) Limited, which owns a 65 per cent share in Maamba Collieries
Limited (MCL) in southern Zambia, is constructing a 300 MW coal-fired electricity generation plant in the
Southern African nation. MCL’s Patson Phiri describes the project in this article.
The new power plant will resolve this
problem.
Mining at Maamba – which restart-
ed in 2010 – is carried out by open-
pit methods using scientific min-
ing methodology and modern heavy
earthmoving equipment to produce
the desired quantity of coal with due
care for quality.
As D-day for commissioning of the
power plant fast approaches, construc-
tion of the water intake system and the
330 kV double circuit transmission
lines that will transmit power into the
national grid is also underway.
Ashwin Devineni, MCL Resident Di-
rector, speaking after a conducted tour
of the MCL mine with board members
from India in mid-July, said much
progress had been made and that elec-
tricity transmission was set to start
next year. He added that the company
would start the crucial process of syn-
chronisation of the first unit in August
2014, subject to ZESCO upgrading its
power line from the current level to
the required 330 kV.
There is also a further plan to expand and construct
an additional 300 MW of capacity to bring the total
to 600 MW.
About 1,4 million tons of low grade coal has been
stockpiled so far adjacent to the mine in Maamba
ready for delivery to the power plant when it starts.
The revival of the Maamba mine can be traced back
to 2008 when ZCCM-IH became a 100 % shareholder
after negotiating an agreement with the Zambian gov-
ernment. ZCCM-IH then advertised the firm for priva-
tisation through a global bidding process. On 26 April
2010, ZCCM-IH and Nava signed an Equity Partner-
ship agreement.
Prior to NBV investing at the mine, industrial un-
rest that resulted from non-payment of workers’
wages consistently rocked the mine leading to its
closure and retrenchment of workers until the new
investor took over.
Stability has only been restored after the huge in-
vestment by NBV which has procured modern equip-
ment and employed high-value technologies to ex-
cavate coal. It has also cleared all of the outstanding
staff liabilities and settled with other creditors.
Ahead of the commissioning of the power plant,
MCL has started recruiting Zambian engineers who
will undergo on-site training in Maamba and also in
India where NBV runs power plants. The target is
to have 80 engineers in total who are being engaged
in phases.
The 300 MW power plant at Maamba under construction.
