adminchance to import power directly from regional utilities as opposed to relying solely on supplies from Zesa Holdings.
CZI president Mr Joseph Kanyekanye lamented the decision, saying companies were now forced to buy power from Zesa at double the regulated tariff of US7,53c per kilowatt hour to get uninterrupted power supplies.
He made the remark in his address to delegates at the CZI annual congress taking place at Elephant Hills in the resort town of Victoria Falls.
Zimbabwe faces serious power shortages as it can only generate an average of 1 200 megawatts per day against demand of 2 200MW.
If unresolved, CZI fears power shortages could soon become a “disenabler” for industry.
“Industry requested for an opportunity to import power directly,” he said. “This was shot down. We have individual firms that were issued with power generation licences but there are no firm dates to commence operations.”
He said the CZI was told in meetings with Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma that they would not be allowed to import directly and should pay the designated tariff.
Mr Kanyekanye claimed if industry was allowed to import directly from the region it would procure the power at the significantly lower rate of US5,2c per kilowatt hour, compared with Zesa Holdings’ US14c.
But Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said the tariff charge was comparable to the regional average of US12c per kilowatt hour.
He argued industry found the tariff uncompetitive because of low capacity utilisation and obsolete equipment which made operations less viable.
“We welcome the ban on direct power imports as it compels these companies to pay directly to Zesa; for the good of the country, rather than the regional utilities. Paying Zesa enables us to improve our local generation.
“Interestingly, some of these companies have not paid Zesa for power previously consumed.”
Zesa is owed US$450 million by industrial, commercial and domestic users, which has affected its capacity to rehabilitate its old infrastructure, replace equipment and repay debts to regional suppliers.
CZI also bemoaned slow progress in giving independent power producers licences to run small thermal power plants that had been idle in the last decade, although Zesa has since revived three of them.
In response, Mr Gwasira said 13 independent power producers had been licensed to generate power but none had started generation due to a sub-economic tariff regime.
CZI also lamented the Government’s decision to award licences to companies that had little or no capacity to build power generations plants and also did not give timelines by which the projects should be implemented.
For instance, RioZim was given a licence to develop a US$4 billion power plant. But the company was reportedly struggling to raise US$40 million to fund its own mining operations.
Mr Kanyekanye lamented Government’s delays in unlocking the US$1,3 billion unveiled by the Chinese Development Bank for the expansion of Kariba South hydroelectric plant.
Meanwhile, CZI said it regretted that despite efforts to activate the US$70 million line of credit from Botswana to help companies in distress, not much had been done so far.
Industry requires an estimated US$2 billion to retool and enhance competitiveness, eroded by a decade-long economic instability, which saw inflation reaching record levels of around 231 million percent in 2008.
Online Reporter