Chronicle Editor
Load shedding will soon be a thing of the past in Zimbabwe as the US$1,4 billion Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 expansion project is almost complete.
Unit 7 which is undergoing commissioning tests, is already feeding 300 megawatts into the national grid while synchronisation of Unit 8 is slated for the 16th of this month.
Units 7 and 8 when operating at full throttle, will produce a combined 600MW hence the completion of the project will increase national power generation significantly.
The country is already witnessing a reduced load shedding due to improved power generation which has seen the country surpassing 1 000MW total output from as low as 300MW recorded in February this year.
The Kariba Hydro Power Station which almost shut down due to low water levels last year, is now producing about 500MW.
The completion of the Hwange Thermal Power Station expansion project is another milestone achievement worth celebrating as it will drastically reduce the country’s electricity import bill.
The project is one of the flagship projects being implemented by the Second Republic. Energy and Power Development Minister Cde Soda Zhemu said last Friday that while significant strides are being made towards improving power generation, vandalism of power infrastructure remains a major stumbling block.
He said the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) continues to spend millions of dollars meant to fund other projects on replacement of vandalised infrastructure.
Minister Zhemu said ZETDC was spending a lot of money to replace transformers and other infrastructure destroyed by vandals.
He said in a bid to fight vandalism, ZETDC had introduced drones to assist in its surveillance and this has led to a number of arrests.
Minister Zhemu said there is a need to come up with deterrent sentences.
President Mnangagwa recently described as treasonous the increased cases of vandalism of critical infrastructure that the country is witnessing.
He said there is an urgent need to bring these acts of sabotage to an end as they are disrupting service delivery in many sectors of the economy.
We have said it before that the vandals whose actions are negatively impacting on our lives live within communities and should be flushed out.
Communities should therefore join hands with the police and ZETDC in fighting vandalism. The country cannot continue to spend millions of dollars every year to replace vandalised infrastructure.
This money being spent on replacement of vandalised infrastructure is supposed to fund new projects to improve people’s livelihoods.
Online Reporter