adminLeonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
THE joint construction of the 1,600MW Batoka Gorge Power Plant by Zimbabwe and Zambia is set to begin early next year with the two neighbouring countries engaged in talks to secure funding for the mega regional power project.
A council of ministers from Zambia and Zimbabwe met here on Friday with the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) and discussed progress on the project.
Coming out of the 32nd session of the meeting, the authority’s co-chairpersons said talks to raise money were in progress while the feasibility study would be completed in June.
The co-chairs are Zambian Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development Christopher Yaluma and Samuel Undenge — Zimbabwe’s Energy and Power Development Minister.
“The Council of Ministers of ZRA met to recap what has transpired since February last year and advance policy direction and utilisation of Zambezi water. Batoka is co-owned by the two countries and we’ll ensure we develop capacity to grow the economies of the two countries.
At the moment we’re satisfied with the situation we are at,” said Yaluma.
The Batoka power generation plant has been in the pipeline for many years but to date nothing has happened save for feasibility study financed through a $6 million grant from the World Bank.
“The Batoka project was mooted long back and now we are nearing its take off. We’ve entered a new phase of feasibility study and financial consultancy and we hope to be done in June. Before the end of the year there will be serious efforts to make sure the project starts in January 2016,” Yaluma said.
He said the project should run until 2021 if all things move according to set time frames.
In terms of the budget, the project is on pre-planning stage as the two countries are still looking for funding.
“This is the stage of technical appraisal after which the nitty-gritties will follow. The feasibility study will give us a 65 percent confidence on how much the project will cost.
“At the moment we’re using a $6 million grant from the World Bank to do technical work, which includes the feasibility study,” said Yaluma.
His co-chair, Undenge, said they would ensure ZRA plays its role given the importance attached to the project.
“This is an important project where the two countries will use the plant to generate electricity. We’ll soon be concluding the feasibility study and then start work and we’ll play our part to ensure ZRA fulfils its mandate. All we need now is to stay focused if we’re to deliver expectations of the people,” he said.
The two countries would share costs under the auspices of ZRA.
ZRA is also working on rehabilitation of the ageing Kariba Dam, which got $294,2 million funding from different development partners.
The council also approved the 2015 budget, which includes provision for counterpart funding for the development of the Batoka Hydro Electric Scheme and the rehabilitation of the Kariba Dam.
ZRA will also start collecting toll fees from motorists and all heavy duty vehicles using the Kariba Dam wall for passage to either contracting state and regulate vehicle traffic to ensure that the loading doesn’t exceed limits required for the safety of the dam wall.
The meeting agreed the rehabilitation of the Kariba Dam was key hence the need for its maintenance to avoid catastrophic disaster in the entire Sadc region
Bongani Moyo
Online Reporter