adminFreedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
The revival of Ziscosteel will boost operations at Sable Chemicals on the outskirts of Kwekwe, which used to supply the steel giant with gas, an official has said.
Sable Chemicals was forced to decommission its gas plant when Ziscosteel stopped operating in 2008.
Government is making efforts to have the steel company, which used to the biggest steelworks in Africa, resuscitated.
In an interview recently, Sable Chemicals production executive Mr Allen Manhanga said they were forced to decommission their gas and plant after Ziscosteel shut down.
“We have an idle plant which used to produce gas that we would take to Ziscosteel when it was still operational,” he said.
“When the company closed, we were indirectly affected as we lost huge business and we were forced to decommission the plant.
“The plant became useless because it was designed so that the gas produced was taken straight to Ziscosteel along a 22-kilometre pipeline, which is still in place.”
Mr Manhanga said when Ziscosteel entered into a deal with Indian owned Essar Africa Holdings in 2010, the new investors had promised to buy the gas plant.
“The deal collapsed and we are still stuck with the plant,” he said.
He said there was also a water treatment plant that was lying idle after the decommissioning of the electrolysis plant.
“The electrolysis plant which we decommissioned was using a lot of water so we had a water treatment plant here that was used to treat water before it was pumped into the electrolysis plant,” he said.
“The water treatment plant is so big that it can supply a small town, but it’s lying idle after we decommissioned our electrolysis plant due to viability challenges.”
Mr Manhanga said the company had no plans to commission the electrolysis plant, which requires over 100 megawatts to run.
Online Reporter