dyton mupawaenda
George Maponga in Masvingo
Masvingo will be adding another two small 5MW mini-hydro electricity generators along the Mutirikwi River to take the total up to 15MW on this river, which will help use irrigation water to power the pump stations.
The planned two plants will add on to the first 5MW plant now being constructed by Great Zimbabwe Hydro Power Company at Lake Mutirikwi.
That plant is now 70 percent complete and was initially billed for commissioning on November 30 before it was rescheduled to the first quarter of next year.
Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira has now announced plans were afoot to build two more mini-hydro electric plants along Mutirikwi River, reusing the same water, and taking the clean energy out to 15MW.
“The 5MW hydro electric power plant at Lake Mutirikwi is now over 70 percent complete and a further two hydro electric power plants are expected to be rolled out along Mutirikwi River and each plant will have capacity to produce 5MW,” he said.
“We have another bigger hydro power project set for Tugwi-Mukosi Dam in southern Masvingo.”
Tugwi-Mukosi hydro power plant is projected to produce about 17MW and is one of the anchor projects at Zimbabwe’s largest interior dam that was commissioned in May 2017 and cost over US$250 million to build.
Minister Chadzamira said contractors for the Tugwi-Mukosi power project were already in place with construction work expected to start once a few loose ends have been tied.
“A 15MW hydro electric power plant will soon start to be built at Tugwi-Mukosi where contractors are already in place,” he said. “There are a few regulatory issues, like getting approval from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA), that are delaying commencement of works.
“The office (of Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial and Devolution) will vigorously engage with all relevant stakeholders to make the giant water body start to benefit the province more.’’
The planned and ongoing power projects in Masvingo come as Chivi Rural District Council also announced that the local authority had identified an investor wishing to build a 50MW solar plant between Mashava and Mhandamabwe Business Centre.
That will be almost twice as large as the three mini-hydro plants combined. These projects are in sync with Vision 2030 of attaining an upper middle income economy.
While the relatively small hydro and solar plants only add a relative percentage to Zimbabwe’s generating capacity, they and other similar small stations in total will between them, gradually increase the generating capacity of the country on the basis that a lot of small stations might equal one large station.
There has been increased interest in clean energy with Zimbabwe, making a commitment to shift towards eco-friendly sources of energy as the planet grapples with effects of climate change which is mainly caused by burning of fossil fuels like coal in most cases to generate electricity.
Online Reporter