Water supply and demand scenarios for the Zambezi river basin

The document highlights the significant risks climate change poses to hydropower potential in the Zambezi River Basin, emphasizing that financial viability for future plants depends on stable generation and revenue. It calls for a shift from analyzing individual plants to assessing entire national and regional energy systems using the most current climate data. The text notes that while cooperation in the basin is increasing, investment and operational decisions lack optimal coordination, a challenge expected to grow with the addition of four to five major new plants over the next 10-15 years. It recommends linking water modelling with regional energy system models to better understand economic trade-offs and the costs associated with climate change.

• Climate change has significant potential impacts on hydropower in the Zambezi River Basin, necessitating its explicit inclusion in project and system expansion planning, particularly to ensure the financial viability and loan repayment capacity of future plants.
• Current investment and operational coordination in the basin is suboptimal and is expected to become more complex as four or five major new hydropower plants are developed over the next 10-15 years.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2016). Water supply and demand scenarios for the Zambezi river basin. https://cdkn.org/resource/water-supply-and-demand-scenarios-for-the-zambezi-river-basin

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Water supply and demand scenarios for the Zambezi river basin. 2016. https://cdkn.org/resource/water-supply-and-demand-scenarios-for-the-zambezi-river-basin.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Water supply and demand scenarios for the Zambezi river basin |date=27 January 2016 |url=https://cdkn.org/resource/water-supply-and-demand-scenarios-for-the-zambezi-river-basin |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2016water, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Water supply and demand scenarios for the Zambezi river basin}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2016}, month = jan, url = {https://cdkn.org/resource/water-supply-and-demand-scenarios-for-the-zambezi-river-basin}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }