Zimbabwe’s power supply has augmented, following the completion of repairs of Unit 5 at Hwange Power Station, enabling the unit to add 160MW to the grid.
Energy Minister Fortune Chasi confirmed the development on Saturday morning through his twitter account, also signalling that Unit 6 will be opened up for inspection during the first week of September for fault diagnostics.
Fortune Chasi@fortunechasiENERGY UPDATE: Good morning MAZIMBA.
Following the return to service of Unit 5 at Hwange adding 160 MW to the grid last night, we expect to see improvement in power supply. Unit 6 to be opened up 4 inspection 1st wk of Sept for fault diagnostics.
He said: “Let me also appeal to the public to please pay their bills and to avoid power threats. Theft of power transformers is a prevalent issue at the moment. It doesn’t matter how much power we have if we don’t have transformers we will not be able to deploy the power.”
Media also highlighted that insufficient power supply has put a strain on the economy, particularly affecting the agricultural and mining sectors, as well as the manufacturing industry.
Domestic power users have been advised that they might continue to experience loadshedding as the power supplier will prioritise the productive sectors first.
It was noted that since May, Zimbabwe has been facing challenges with power generation from the Kariba dam due to falling water levels.
The Hwange Thermal Power Station is the biggest power plant in Zimbabwe with an installed capacity of 920 MW. It is owned and driven by the national electricity company ZESA Holdings LTD. It was built in two stages and consists of 4 units of 120 MW each and 2 units of 220 MW each.
Author: Babalwa Bungane
This article was originally published on ESI Africa and is republished with permission with minor editorial changes.
