Zambia and the DRC produce about one-sixth of the world's copper, making consistent power a global supply chain issue.
The region suffers from frequent, unplanned outages, due to a combination of ageing infrastructure, cable theft and vandalism.
Drought has also impacted on Zambian hydropower output, leading to regular 20-hour blackouts in some regions.
In September 2025, Zambian Energy Minister Makozo Chikote told parliament that load-shedding should end in mid-2026 after new supplies came online.
To mitigate the climate change risk, the African Development Bank (AfDB) in October 2025 approved a $14.54 million financing package to support the Garneton North 20-MW solar project in the Zambian Copperbelt.
It is one of six projects selected by the Zambian government under the country’s Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariffs (GETFiT) programme, designed to unlock private-sector investment in small- and medium-scale renewable energy independent power projects in the country, according to Jing Li, division manager, energy financial solutions at the AfDB.
It is part of a multi-layered cross-border power generation and transmission strategy that is being implemented to unlock the mining, value adding and manufacturing potential of the Copperbelt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.
The strategy also switches on opportunities for private-sector power producers.
One of the biggest is the Kalumbila-Kolwezi 330kV Interconnection Project (KKIP), a high-voltage line linking the Republic of Zambia and the DRC.
The 330kV high-voltage line will be approximately 190km long, two-thirds of which will be on Zambian territory.
It is designed for a thermal limit of 700 MW of electrical power. The estimated total project cost is around $250m, according to KKIP.
The line will supplement the existing interconnection, which has reached capacity.
For generation, the region is tapping into the region’s enormous hydroelectric potential.
The “Grand Inga Hydropower Project” in the DRC has the potential of a total installed capacity of over 42 000 MW, which will supply the DRC and the rest of the region.
Financing and red tape are delaying the project, according to the African Union Development Agency.
In July 2024, ProMarks and Trafigura signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Angolan government to conduct a technical and economic viability study to build and operate a 2 000 MW high-voltage electricity “interconnector” to take surplus green electricity produced by hydroelectric dams located in the north of Angola to the DRC Copperbelt and Zambia, integrating with the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP), according to a joint statement.
The project is reported to be in the feasibility study phase, with development, financing and construction planned as a public-private partnership (PPP).
Mining companies are not waiting for the connections and are building their own generation capacity.
First Quantum Minerals is providing offtake for a $500m TotalEnergies-financed 430 MW renewable energy project to power its Kansanshi and Sentinel mines, including a 230 MW solar plant and a 200 MW wind farm, with completion targeted for 2026 and 2027.
Copperbelt Energy Corporation's flagship Itimpi II Solar PV plant, set to become the largest single solar facility in Zambia at 136 MWp, is scheduled for commissioning early in 2026, lifting CEC's total solar generation to 230 MW.
The Chisamba solar power plant, a $71.4m investment producing 100 MW, was commissioned in mid-2025, with 25 MW contracted to First Quantum Minerals, with the remainder available for other Zesco customers.
