- Zimbabwe will commission one of two new 300MW generation units that will add much needed generation capacity to the country’s grid this month.
- Zimbabwe’s Energy and Power Development Minister, Zhemu Soda, made the announcement in Harare yesterday.
- A second 300MW unit is expected to come online next month.
Soda told the state-run Herald daily that engineers from the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) and China are conducting final tests before the commissioning of Unit 7 at the Hwange Thermal Power Plant.
“The testing of the power plant was done and passed. We are only left with the testing of the protection system that allows for the evacuation of power to the transmission system,” Soda said.
The unit has 300MW capacity while Unit 8 with the same capacity, is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of March.
Zimbabwean’s face up to 19 hours of blackouts daily. The scarcity of foreign currency makes it difficult to purchase power from neighbouring countries who want payment upfront. Desperate for generation capacity, Zimbabwe recently upset its neighbour, Zambia, with whom it shares the Kariba hydro dam facility, by ignoring water quoters set by the Zambezi Water Authority. Read more
The Hwange power plant upgrades have been plagued by corruption and delays. The plant refurbishment was suspended by China after allocated funds were raided and diverted by the Zimbabwe government in 2019. Read more
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
