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Acting Business Editor
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has approved $17,52 million emergency power infrastructure rehabilitation project under the second phase in Zimbabwe.In a statement, the regional financial institution said its board had approved financing of the project whose objective was to improve the availability and reliability of electricity supply in the country.
“The board of the AfDB approved on Friday, December 20 the Emergency Power Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project Phase II (EPIRP II) in Zimbabwe. The financing comes in the form of a $17,52 million grant from the Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund (ZimFund) housed in the AfDB.
“The objective of EPIRP is to improve the availability and reliability of electricity supply through the rehabilitation of generation, transmission and distribution facilities.
“This involves specifically the electricity supply to critical social infrastructure facilities and to the inhabitants of the seven targeted areas of Zimbabwe — Kwekwe, Gweru, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Mutare, Harare and Hwange. Together these areas have a combined population of five million people.”
AfDB director for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department Alex Rugamba was quoted as saying the EPIRP II was the second energy-sector project finance through the AfDB-administered ZimFund.
He added: “We chose to support this project because it is in line with Bank Group’s Strategy for 2013-2022, which emphasises infrastructure development for inclusive economic growth, including green growth, but also because it aligns with our new energy policy, whose objectives include supporting regional member countries to provide modern, affordable and reliable energy services to their populations and productive sectors.”
Phase I of the EPIRP was designed to improve the provision of adequate and reliable electricity in an environmentally sound manner.
This will be achieved through the rehabilitation of the Ash Handling Plant at the Hwange Power Station and the electricity transmission and distribution facilities in the country.
Phase II is designed to further the benefits gained under Phase I interventions and to address issues that were not covered in Phase I.
It is hoped that when complete, Phase II will enable full utilisation of national produced capacity through restoration of transformer capacity.
Utilised installed capacity is expected to rise from 1,237 megawatts in 2013 to 1,960 MW by 2016 — with due attention to environmental safety and protection.
Key outputs of EPIRP II include the rehabilitated transmission and distribution networks (repaired and replaced cables, overhead lines and transformers and their related accessories) and the rehabilitated or refurbished systems at Hwange Power Plant comprising the Ash Dam for Stage I and II.
As a result of Phase II project, it is also hoped that Hwange Power Plant will have improved environmental quality conditions. Over the past decade, Zimbabwe’s economic situation severely affected all sectors of the economy including infrastructure.
Against this background AfDB has identified the rehabilitation of key power sector assets as the fastest and least-costly option for restoring the country’s capacity to increase electricity supply to meet part of the present demand and enhance system stability.
Online Reporter