ZESCO has said load shedding in some parts of Lusaka will continue until the company replaces the gutted transformer at Leopards Hill.

Acting Managing Director, Cyprian Chitundu said power supply would only normalise after a new transformer was installed in Lusaka and appealed for patience from the public.

Mr Chitundu assured that the company had bought a transformer from India and it was expected to arrive in the country in few weeks' time.

He said in an interview in Lusaka that the company was committed to providing quality service to its customers and that it was for that reason that Zesco had been working round the clock to minimise the load shedding.

He appealed to the public to remain calm as Zesco awaited the arrival of the transformer and commended consumers for the support they had continued to give the company at the time it was going through difficulties.

"For now Lusaka city will continue to experience the load shedding until the transformer which was gutted recently is replaced.

"But we are happy that the machine is already on its way to Zambia and this will help ease the situation once it is resettled," he said.

In June, Zambia experienced widespread power blackouts when one of the four transformers caught fire at the Leopards' Hills sub-station.

The Leopards Hill sub-station, a transit point for power being transmitted from Kariba North Bank and Kafue Gorge power stations, collapsed after the fire on one of the transformers.

Meanwhile, Zesco has resumed normal operations at Kariba North Bank power station following the fire which left three people dead and more than 40 others injured.

Mr Chitundu said he was happy that the station was now generating up to its 720 megawatt capacity and thanked the public for the cooperation it gave the company during and after the fire at the Kariba North Bank extension, which was under construction by Sino Hydro Company of China.

He also said Zesco had begun an exercise to phase out diesel generators in various parts of the country to make power supply more reliable in the rural areas.

Mr Chitundu said during a live Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation television National Watch programme yesterday that the use of diesel generators had proved to be costly for the firm.

He said the company would start phasing out diesel generators starting with Mufumbwe in North-Western Province before moving to other districts.

"I would like to inform the nation that the process of phasing out diesel generators is on course because we have realised that we are spending more than what we are collecting from our customers," he said.

Mr Chitundu said Zesco was concerned with the high costs of buying diesel, hence the decision to phase out the generators.