Editorial Comment: Zim on path to energy self-sufficiency

ZIMBABWE needs a reliable and sufficient supply of power to successfully implement its economic turnaround programmes, particularly its much-vaunted blueprint — the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset). The energy sector plays a key role as an economic enabler with investors keen to come into a country with a guaranteed source of electricity.

Over the years, the country has experienced a power deficit with its major units at Hwange and Kariba unable to meet the country’s energy needs due to antiquated equipment, lack of spare parts and a growing demand for electricity. The Kariba Hydro-Electric power station and the Hwange Thermal power station were built during the colonial era when the population of Zimbabwe was relatively small and the power needs of the nation quite manageable.

Industry, the farming community and domestic consumers could easily be catered for from the power generated at the two stations. Since then, Zimbabwe’s population has increased and the energy needs of both industry and agriculture have surged hence the deficit in power being experienced in the country.

While imports from Snel in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Hydro Cahora Bassa in Mozambique have augmented power supplies, the country desperately needs to generate more power locally to power the wheels of industry and the agricultural sector. Power imports are expensive and a waste of scarce foreign currency hence the need to find home grown solutions for the energy sector. Government has been proactive in that respect with a number of projects underway to improve the country’s electricity generation capacity.

The country’s two main power generation centres — Hwange and Kariba — are undergoing massive expansion to add a significant amount of power to the national grid. President Mugabe on Thursday commissioned the construction of the $533 million Kariba South Power Extension Project expected to generate an additional 300MW by 2017. This will see the total capacity at Kariba rising from the current 750 MW to 1050 MW.

In the same vein, Government has awarded the $1.3 billion Hwange Thermal power generation expansion project to China’s biggest builder of hydroelectric dams, Sin Hydro, and the company is expected to add two generating units of 300MW each at Hwange. This is the same company that is undertaking the Kariba South expansion and once it completes the two projects, Zimbabwe will have an additional 900MW added to the national grid.

Local power generation capacity currently averages 1,300MW against a peak demand of 2,200MW and this means that with the completion of the two expansion projects, the country will be self-sufficient in terms of power. What is pleasing is that there are other smaller power projects in the pipeline to supplement the two major stations.

Private players such as Makomo Resources, Essar Holdings and China-Africa Sunlight are planning to set up power stations to improve electricity generation. Makomo, which has grown in stature to become the country’s largest coal producer in less than five years of existence, in July announced plans to spend $1,5 billion on a 600MW power plant at its Hwange operations. Essar Africa Holdings, the giant steel maker and majority shareholder of New Zimsteel, are also in the process of negotiating a power deal to set up a 300MW thermal plant in Kwekwe for its consumption with excess power expected to be fed onto the national grid.

China-Africa Sunlight — a consortium of Chinese and Zimbabwean investors — envisages setting up a $1 billion thermal power station at its coal mining concession in the Gwayi area of Matabeleland North. It expects to contribute 300MW to the national power grid on completion of the first phase of the project. In addition, we have the planned $3 billion Batoka hydro-electric project expected to create 1,600MW power plants in both Zimbabwe and Zambia, the Devils’ Gorge on the Zambezi River, Gairezi, Tokwe-Mukosi, Kondo and other smaller ones all expected to contribute about 5,000MW to the national grid. Against this background, Zimbabwe stands on solid ground in terms of future power generation and all that is needed are the resources to implement these projects.

The Kariba South project is up and running and will probably be completed first, easing the current punishing load-shedding regime and improving the lives of Zimbabweans. We commend the Chinese government — our fair weather friend — for providing the funding for the project. Beijing extended a $320 million loan for the implementation of the project with the balance of $213 million being provided by the Zimbabwe Power Company. Speaking at the commissioning of the Kariba South project, President Mugabe warned against delays in implementing the expansion project and we agree with him.
“I, however, would like to observe that implementation of public projects has, in the past, been characterised by inefficiency, delays, and lack of commitment, which, cumulatively, have often compromised the cost-effectiveness of the projects. This cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.