Zim to boost power supply

A HIGH-LEVEL delegation from the Zimbabwe Power Company and the Ministry of Energy and Power Development is set to travel to China this week, to sign a contract for the refurbishment of the Hwange Thermal Power Station, as the country moves to boost power supplies.
Elton Mangoma, the Minister of Energy and Power Development revealed this week that the delegation would meet officials from China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC), winners of the US$1,3 billion tender to expand the electricity generation capacity at Hwange Power Station.
The signing of the engineering procurement construction contract is likely to put to rest the intense rivalry between CMEC and Sinohydro, another Chinese-linked firm that had also submitted a bid for the tender to expand the power station.
Sinohydro bid for much less than CMEC; pegging its bid at US$1 billion, with the latter being awarded the tender by the State Procurement Board.
The expansion of Hwange, to take over two years, will result in the addition of two units with a combined capacity of 600 megawatts (MW).
“The delegation is travelling to China this week to sign the contract and there are no problems so far with those arrangements,” said Mangoma.
He denied that the fight for the lucrative tender had become an area of contestation and could likely plunge the country into darkness.
“There were queries that were raised and have been dealt with, all else doing the rounds is speculative information and I know nothing about it,” he said.
Sources in the power sector say behind the scenes tensions had mounted over the awarding of the tender to CMEC at a higher cost of US$300 million.
Zimbabwe is likely to face more power cuts this winter season as the refurbishment of its key power plant in Hwange continues at a snail’s pace and maximum electricity generation is hampered by ageing infrastructure.
Mangoma indicated that the first phase of the refurbishment, which includes maintenance checks, had been completed.
“The general refurbishment has been achieved, but there is a separate exercise altogether that needs to take place…as we have not been achieving rated capacity because of the old age of our machinery,” said Mangoma.
Hwange Power Station is also set to undergo a life extension programme aimed at improving plant availability of stages 1 and 2 by 90 percent and increasing the lifespan of the plant by another 30 years.
The power plant is the biggest in the country with an installed capacity of 920 MW.
Zimbabwe has a monthly electricity demand of 1 400MW, with demand normally surging during the winter season.
Zimbabwe meets part of its electricity shortfall through imports of nearly 100MW from Mozambique.
Mangoma said load shedding by power utility ZESA Holdings would continue in an effort to ration power distribution throughout the country.
“There is a strain on our electricity resources, but it is not as much as before…The figures I am looking at show that we have a shortfall of 200MW. Despite our electricity shortfalls, we are still obligated to continue electricity supplies to Nam-Power (Namibia’s power company) of 150MW in a deal that was struck before the formation of the unity government,” said Mangoma.