adminand as we gear to rebuild the economy after years of sanctions-induced decline, there is need for a stable power supply to drive the critical sectors.
Plans have been outlined in the past through numerous policy documents and several conferences, all showing the great potential that the country’s economy has and how it was inextricably tied to the availability of sufficient power supplies.
The Zimbabwe Power Company announced this week that it planned to increase power output from 1 200 megawatts by 520 megawatts to reduce the national power deficit that has led to load shedding.
Zimbabwe’s national peak demand stands at 2 200 MW.
Setting up new power stations is capital intensive and would take years before output is improved. However, we already have several power stations across the country that are not being used optimally.
It is against this background that we believe that the ZPC plan, as outlined by its chairman, Mr Victor Gapare, could work if well-funded and tied to a well thought out plan with time frames that would be monitored.
Under the company’s strategic focus for the next five years, Mr Gapare said three gaps had been identified.
These are the deficit between installed capacity at existing generation stations, additional capacity that ZPC needs to build and enhancing of personnel capacity at the power company.
Plans were already afoot to increase output from Kariba and Hwange power stations by about 600 megawatts in the next four years, which would match the current demand of 1 500MW.
We are told that power supply from the power stations around the country could be boosted through funding their rehabilitation and expansion to increase their generation capacity.
We welcome and applaud the moves by the ZPC to ensure we are self-sufficient in power supplies, albeit with guarded optimism.
Plans to revive the thermal power stations in Harare, Munyati and Bulawayo have been in the pipeline for years and some of the stations have been cranked, spurted fumes and the resultant din raised a lot of hopes among industrialists, only for the stations to go quiet despite their touted potential in the face of the power deficits.
The multi-pronged approach by ZPC also envisages closing a second gap by installing additional capacity through the Kariba South expansion and Hwange 7 and 8 projects that are reportedly quite advanced in their planning and implementation.
It is on the implementation that we have been found wanting over the years since many of the plans have been on the drawing board for years.
The country went through economically lean years and lost key personnel in many sectors and we are heartened that ZPC is mindful of the need to plug that gap through training.
We are aware that ZPC is also considering other projects such as Batoka, Gairezi, solar and coal bed methane in its bid to improve power generation.
Solar energy offers another window of opportunity that ZPC should seriously explore to boost power generation and could ensure improved output within reasonable time.
While our electricity demand has reportedly stabilised due to partly pre-payment, there is still a need to have even excess capacity in view of regional deficits that we could cover and earn the country foreign currency.
Also, as the economy improves and industrial development gains momentum, demand for power shall rise just as it is expected to increase markedly once New ZimSteel begins its operations and fertiliser firms start operating at full throttle.
Added to the ZPC’s efforts, we believe Zimbabwe has granted licences to investors for power generation plants and that in the next decade these should be feeding into the national grid.
Based on plans announced over the years, Zimbabwe could be self-sufficient in power by now. The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority licensed 16 independent power producers between 2010 and last year, which were expected to produce a combined 5 000MW.
However, in the short term we believe improving power generation from installed capacity should be a priority so that we fire up Harare, Munyati, Bulawayo, augment Hwange’s output and even get the Chisumbanje Ethanol plant running so that we benefit from the little power generated there.
We need all the power we can get so that we can channel the millions we spend on power imports elsewhere while positioning our industry back on a firm pedestal for take-off.
Online Reporter