African Development Bank

<p>The project road runs North from the turn-off to Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) to the North of Lilongwe to the turn-off to the district centre of Mzimba in Northern Malawi for approximately 234 km. The road starts at KIA junction and travels North via Kasungu and Jenda where it ends at the turn-off to Mzimba Boma. The section between the KIA turn-off to Jenda was constructed in the early 1980s and a portion of this section between Chatoloma and Jenda was resealed in 2005. The road is used by both motorised and non-motorised vehicles, in particular between Lilongwe and Kasungu where there are many trading centres and towns along the route. Between Lilongwe and the Kachinda turn-off to the S113 the road traverses mainly rolling to flat terrain with several river crossings including three high level bridges. It passes the following trading centres:</p>

<ul>
<li>Lumbadzi Trading Centre</li>
<li>Mponela Trading Centre</li>
<li>Madisi Trading Centre</li>
<li>Bua Trading Centre</li>
<li>Chinkhoma Trading Centre</li>
<li>Dwangwa Trading Centre</li>
<li>Phomwa Trading Centre</li>
<li>Bowe Trading Centre</li>
<li>Chatoloma Trading Centre</li>
<li>Nkhamenya Trading Centre</li>
<li>Jenda Trading Centre</li>
</ul>

<p>North of the Kachindamoto turn-off the terrain becomes hilly and the road passes through the Chimaliro Forest Reserve before reaching Jenda. North of Jenda there are a few trading centres and settlements but with far fewer people seen on the road than South of the Kachinda turn-off and in the vicinity of Jenda. The road passes through the Vipya forest reserve before reaching the turn-of to Mzimba.</p>

<p>The proposed BGHES is a bi-national hydro power project to be located approximately fifty-four (54) kilometres downstream of the Victoria Falls and will extend across the international boundary between the Republics of Zambia and Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>Through several subsequent studies and analysis (1981,1992-1993, 1998 and 2015) the current technical configuration for the BGHES comprises:</p>
<ul>
<li>176m high, 720m crest length Roller Compacted Concrete gravity arch dam;</li>
<li>Radial gated central crest spillway;</li>
<li>Two surface power plants, one on either side of the river bank, each with a capacity of 1,200MW, giving a combined capacity of 2,400MW;</li>
<li>6 x 200MW Francis turbines in each powerhouse;</li>
<li>Four water intakes delivering water through 4 tunnels (each approximately 1km in length) to the two surface power plants downstream of the dam;</li>
<li>Diversion tunnel</li>
<li>Switchyards for both power plants</li>
<li>Construction of the staff townships with social amenities and office complex for the Authority and Power utilities on Batoka North and Batoka South.</li>
<li>The staff townships will initially be permanent construction camps and located one on the north bank of the dam (in Zambia) and the other one on the south bank (in Zimbabwe).</li>
</ul>
<p>Single trasmission lines in Zambia (directed from the Project)&Acirc; will be located as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>2 x 55km of 330kV, Single Circuit Overhead Transmission lines between Batoka North Bank Power Station and Mukuni Substation, Livingstone.</li>
<li>1 x 170km of 330kV, Single Circuit Overhead Transmission Line between Batoka North Bank Power Station and Muzuma Substation, Choma.</li>
<li>2 x 230km of 330kV, Single Circuit Overhead Transmission Lines between Batoka North Bank Power Station and Nambala Substation, Mumbwa.</li>
</ul>
<p>Single trasmission lines in Zimbabwe (directed from the project)&Acirc; will be located as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>Batoka North and Batoka South Interconnector (2 x 400kV);</li>
<li>BGHES to Victoria Falls (1x 400kV x 30km) in Zimbabwe&Acirc; complete with 2 x 400kV line bays;</li>
<li>Victoria Fall to Hwange (1 x 400kV x 55km) line complete with 2 x 400kV line bays</li>
<li>Victoria Falls 400/(132)88kV Substation complete with 4 x outgoing (132)88kV line bays</li>
<li>BGHES to Chakari (2 x 400/330kV x 400km) in Zimbabwe complete with 4 x 400kV line bays.</li>
<li>Chakari to Selous (1 x 330kV x 70km) line in Zimbabwe complete with 2 x 330kV line bays The line will be 400kV construction but operating at 330kV.&Acirc; </li>
<li>Selous to Dema (1 x 330kV x 95km) line in Zimbabwe complete with 2 x 330kV line bays. The line will be 400kV construction but operating at 330kV.&Acirc; </li>
<li>All lines shall come with 2 x Earthwire peaks ( 1 x 48 Core OPGW and 1 x GSW)</li>
</ul>
<p>.</p>
<p>&Acirc; </p>

A 2x3 Highway from Abidjan to Lagos through Accra, Lome and Cotonou covering a large proportion of West Africa"’s population and linking very vibrant seaports which serve all the landlocked countries of the region being Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The project also includes provision for trade and transit facilitation, corridor management and the development of economic zones such as logistics centers, industrial zones, cross-border and regional markets to ensure the integration of the region and economic development.

This project forms part of the  priority projects  identified in the ECOWAS Master Plan for the Generation and Transmission of Electrical Energy and shall interconnect  Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to the nine already interconnected countries.