Extreme weather

The River Runs Dry

A full reservoir makes the opening years look comfortable. An El Niño drought will test a grid built around the Zambezi.

Play The River Runs Dry See what’s at stake

Free to play in your browser. Choose your difficulty in the game.

The situation

Your starting point

Start in 2012 with a hydro-dominated utility, a small diesel plant and a little solar. Your customers include the Copperbelt mines, whose electricity demand continues around the clock.

The reservoir begins full, but falling inflow changes how long that stored water will last. Once the drought takes hold, the diesel plant is far too small to replace the dam on its own.

The choices

What will you do?

  1. Look past today's reservoir level

    Watch the inflow outlook before the lake looks empty. Water stored now buys time to build, rather than a guarantee of future supply.

  2. Find power beyond the river

    Compare alternative generation and storage with the needs of a hydro-dependent fleet. Extra capacity has to provide energy when water cannot.

  3. Serve the load that does not sleep

    Plan for the mines as well as household peaks. Daytime solar helps, but the industrial load still needs electricity through the night.

Put your plan to the test

Use the full reservoir to prepare for the years when it will no longer be full.

Build, watch what happens, and try a different approach. The grid is yours to run.

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