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THE Government is exploring various strategies aimed at improving the country’s dwindling power supply through engaging Southern African regional utilities for additional imports and the completion of ongoing maintenance and rehabilitation programme. In an interview, the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Cde Dzikamai Mavhaire said the Government was worried about the ongoing increased load shedding.
He said efforts were being made to address the problem through engaging neighbouring countries for additional power imports.
“The country has been subjected to increased load shedding since the beginning of September and this is coming after the country has experienced a relatively good power supply during winter. The Government is working on various strategies to enhance electricity supply.
“Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) will continue to engage regional utilities for additional imports and Zimbabwe Power Company is expected to complete its maintenance and rehabilitation programme as scheduled,” said Cde Mavhaire.
He said the power supply should improve by the end of this month.
“We expect the situation to improve by the end of this month. The breakdowns at Hwange and the transmission have been resolved. The power supplies are expected to improve steadily and reach acceptable levels by the end of this month. The power supply shortage is not as a result of failure to pay for power imports. ZETDC is in good standing with the utilities from which the country imports power,” Cde Mavhaire said.
The Minister said ZETDC was also in the process of resuscitating the ripple control system in Harare and Bulawayo, which would see a saving of 42MW during peak periods in the first quarter of 2014.
“ZEDTC will also accelerate the installation of pre-payment meters as these have assisted consumers in managing their energy consumption as well as improve cash flow for Zesa,” said Cde Mavhaire.
He said in the face of the shortages, priority for power supply was the agricultural sector and essential services that are exempt from load shedding such as major referral hospitals, water and sewer installations, national security establishments, major airports and broadcasting stations, central business districts and border posts.
Cde Mavhaire said the long term solution to addressing the country’s power supply lies in the expansion of the power generation capacity.
“The Electricity Act has liberalised the power sector, allowing participation of independent power producers in power generation. The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority has duly licensed a significant number of projects. The Government will give these projects all the necessary support,” he said.
Cde Mavhaire said ZPC was implementing generation expansion projects at Hwange and Kariba power stations. The two projects would see an increase in generation capacity by 900MW in the next four years.
The application for financing of the Kariba Power Station extension project, by China Exim Bank is at the final stages of approval.
The contract for the expansion of Hwange Power Station was awarded to China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC).
ZPC and CMEC are holding negotiations.
The other major projects include the Batoka Hydro with a capacity to generate 1 600MW and it is being implemented by the Zambian and Zimbabwean governments through the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA). ZRA is in the process of appointing consultants to update the feasibility studies.
Cde Mavhaire said the debt relief that Zesa offered to customers was done after careful consideration.
“It was important to provide relief to important customer categories, domestic customers and agriculture sector without compromising the viability of the power utilities. This is why the debt relief was only partial,” he said.
Zesa Holdings last month slashed debts for ordinary consumers and farmers.
The collective debt relief for farmers was $80 million while that for ordinary consumers was $90 million.
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