Zambia has shut its largest power plant after it was damaged by a mud slide, an official said on Monday. Rhodnie Sisala, the managing director of state power utility Zesco, said the southern African country, which normally exports power to some of its neighbours, would now have to import 300 megawatts of power from South Africa and Zimbabwe.
"We have shut down the Kafue Gorge station to protect it after heavy rains caused mud, trees, water and rocks to gush into the power station," he told journalists.
He did not say how long it will be shut.
The Kafue Gorge station generates 900 megawatts of power which mainly supplies the country's large copper mines, Zambia's economic mainstay. Sisala said the mines were still getting adequate power but households were being rationed.