Today the Zambia-Tanzania Interconnector was launched in Lusaka, Zambia, in the presence of Ministers of Energy from Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya, the EU Ambassador, the World Bank and the United Kingdom. This €268 million project of a 620 km interconnector will last five years (2025-2030) and will connect Southern and Eastern Africa’s power pools to enable cross-border energy trade, expand transmission capacity, and strengthen reliable power supply in Northern Zambia.
It aims to address the risk to energy security and economic stability of the region for instance in the event of droughts and climate shocks, due to the lack of interconnectivity with regional power pools. This project delivers on the campaign launched by President von der Leyen to mobilise public and private investments for renewable energy projects in Africa.
The European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela, said: “The Global Gateway Strategy is about creating new opportunities, and this interconnector will do exactly that. It will interlink Southern and Eastern African power pools and strengthen the reliability of electricity supplies both for local communities and local businesses and the climate resilience of energy system across Southern and Eastern Africa. This interconnector will also contribute to the global campaign “scaling up renewables in Africa” launched last year”.
The Zambia–Tanzania Interconnector seeks to address the energy security challenge by linking Zambia’s national grid to Tanzania’s, effectively connecting the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP). This cross-border transmission infrastructure will enable Zambia to import and export power more efficiently. This should significantly reduce the economic and social impacts of power shortages, therefore improve the reliability of electricity supply for households, businesses, and vital public services.
The Interconnector is funded through a multi-partner effort with €30 million from the EU, €220 million from the World Bank and €18 million from the UK.
Background information
The Interconnector will help Zambia address the challenges of limited energy capacity and also plays a part in the Memorandum of Understanding for the Strategic Partnership for the development of Critical Raw Materials Value Chains, signed in October 2023 between the EU and the Republic of Zambia.
Global Gateway is the EU's positive offer to reduce the worldwide investment disparity and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems. The Global Gateway strategy embodies a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States, and European development finance institutions. Together, we aim to mobilise up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027, creating essential links rather than dependencies, and closing the global investment gap.
The Scaling up renewables campaign in Africa is a global campaign launched by the European Commission and the Republic of South Africa together with Global Citizen to mobilise public and private investments for accelerating renewable energy projects in Africa, with the objective of ensuring affordable energy and helping cut global emissions.
Source: EU Commission