Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
MATABELELAND North Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Richard Moyo has said the province is geared for exponential growth fuelled by ongoing capital projects.
Minister Moyo was making reference to the Zimbabwe Zhongxin Electrical Energy (ZZEE), a Chinese company in Hwange which has completed constructing a thermal power plant and is making final touches to start feeding 50MW to the national grid.
ZZEE works in partnership with the Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company (ZETDC).
While the company management was not readily available for comment, a news crew noted smoke coming out of the plant’s chimneys while workers said they have been producing electricity for the last few weeks.
About 50MW are expected to be fed into the national grid from the power located about 10km west of Hwange town.
ZZEE plans to roll-out two 135MW plants in the second phase, which was initially meant to start early this year had the first phase not been delayed last year.
A third phase which is expected to be completed in 2025, will result in construction of two plants, each with a capacity of 300MW and will feed into the national grid.
Minister Moyo said his office is waiting for an update from the company about progress on its projects.
“They haven’t communicated yet. What we know is that they are waiting for direction because they want President Mnangagwa to open the plant,” said Minister Moyo.
“But as Matabeleland North we are very happy, this shows we are a very important province as we have the biggest power producer in the country located here in Hwange and now this one coming through. We have solar fields in Mabale and Victoria Falls as well as Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power Scheme. As a province we are very proud that we are the ones to supply the whole country with electricity. Our gross domestic product will also increase as a province.”
ZZEE is unleashing modern thermal power technology, with the whole project occupying a relatively small piece of land compared to existing power plants by ZETDC.
The cooling tower is a small structure, which can be dwarfed by the one at Hwange Power Station.
It consists of installed rubber fans that are forcibly blown by water at a faster rate hence they produce a cooling system, technology which ZEDTC is understudying with the hope of adopting in future.
There is a computerised control room from where the plant will be monitored.
A 13km powerline linking the new plant to Zimbabwe Power Company’s Hwange plant has been constructed. — @ncubeleon
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