Chronicle Editor
LAKE Gwayi-Shangani will, indeed, be an economy of note in Matabeleland North and the country at large.
Agriculture projects will grow around it and along the 260km water pipeline to Bulawayo. Tourism will flourish too, as will some water sports. Lakeside mansions will sprout there. All these developments and more will have to be backed by provision of various services including banking, fast-moving consumer goods retailing and so on.
We, thus, foresee a town growing around the 634 million cubic-metre reservoir, to be one of the country’s largest.
We reported yesterday that as the Government forges on with work around the lake, a 10-megawatt (MW) hydropower plant is taking shape as well. This, when building is completed in the near future, will be a further boost to the Lake Gwayi-Shangani economy.
A recent progress report indicates that the Government released US$2 million in February to finance construction of the project.
“On the mini-hydro-power station, we have been fabricating and installing penstock or what we call the steel pressure pipes,” says the document.
“We have also done the de-watering of the foundation. The mini-hydro-power station will have two generators producing 5MW each. The generated power will be added to the national grid.”
The construction of the complex is important in enhancing multiple usage of local dams. Instead of dams just storing water for irrigation purposes, for boating or fishing, they can generate electricity as well.
Apart from the one being built at Gwayi-Shangani, a private investor, Great Zimbabwe Hydropower Company is building a 5MW facility at Lake Mutirikwi in Masvingo. Another one is planned for Lake Tugwi-Mukosi in the same province.
Our country has scores of dams, hence its status as southern Africa’s most dammed nation. If a mini-hydro is built at each of the reservoirs, the country would be able to enhance its local power generating capacity. That will go a long way in alleviating the prevailing electricity scarcity in the country. If that happens, the economy would thrive and the quality of people’s lives would be greatly improved.
What will be more satisfying is that the projects will be generating greener power in a world which is increasingly transitioning to renewable generation away from fossil-fuel-based power plants.
We urge the private sector to scout for opportunities in this area as well. We appreciate their interest in developing solar power projects. A few more, better-resourced companies are investing in coal-fired facilities.
However, we see a great opportunity in mini-hydro projects too.
Online Reporter