Dealing with Loadshedding

2024 is an extremely challenging year for Zambia. Due to a combination of the El Niño weather pattern and climate change, there was almost no rain in the 2023-2024 rainy season leading to a severe drought.

Over 80% of Zambia's power is hydroelectric. While this is normally a great source of renewable energy, the drought has led to a crash in the power grid. March started with 4 hours of loadshedding/day. By May it was up to 8 hours, in July up to 12 hours and by September the system essentially collapsed. The government is attempting to provide up to 3 hours of power to all residential areas, but most neighbourhoods (including Kabanana) go without power for days.

At CLH we have a small solar lamp that can also charge a phone in an emergency. At night we are relying on candles for a bit of light. On the rare occasions when we do get power (usually at around 4am) we do our best to charge our laptops & phones for an hour or two. There is no hope of using the fridge.

Update 1: In April 2025 we finally invest in a larger power bank, that can help charge a laptop. It can be charged through the regular power grid or via solar panels. One of our next goals is to get some solar panels, so we are less reliant on the ZESCO power grid.

Update 2: