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From George Maponga in Masvingo
Government has expressed optimism that work on the planned 15-megawatt Tugwi-Mukosi hydro power plant will start soon with the project developer now finalising feasibility studies for the project at Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam.
The power plant is expected to gobble nearly US$20 million and will have capacity to light up the whole of Masvingo province upon completion, thereby reducing national aggregate power demand.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development Dr Gloria Magombo recently revealed that work on the plant was poised to start after licensing of the project developer.
‘’The plant is already on course considering that the design of the dam itself included part of the critical infrastructure required to build a power plant, so that part of the work has been done at the time of construction. ‘’The power plant is going to be developed through an independent power producer and the developer has been licensed. They are doing full feasibilities after which they will go to financial closure before identifying partners who will work with them on the project, we will then have to go to the project site where they will tell us their plans including timelines on completing the project,’’ said Dr Magombo.
Government through the Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Authoriy (ZERA) awared Tokwe-Mukosi (Pvt Ltd) the licence to develop the Tugwi-Mukosi Dam power plant.
‘’Now that the developer of the project has been identified they will be closely working with ZERA and give progress reports on where they will be in terms of implementation of the power project.
Initial infrastructure for the power plant is already there and work on the project will get into full swing upon completion of feasibility and technical studies to study things like the site’s geology among the things.
‘’When they (Tokwe-Mukosi Pvt Ltd) applied for a power generation licence they had a certain time-frame to complete the work and now that they have been given a licence, they will be able to tell us
exactly when they will finish the project,’’ Dr Magombo said.
Dr Magombo said Government will in future follow the Tugwi-Mukosi model and make sure all dams are designed to house power generation infrastructure as Zimbabwe moves to be self-sufficient in power generation.
Tugwi-Mukosi is Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam with a capacity of 1,8 billion cubic metres. Besides power generation the dam is also touted as a long term panacea to recurrent food woes in Masvingo with its irrigation potential of over 25 000 hectares. The dam also boasts vast tourism potential with its scenic topography and islands suitable for picturesque hotels.
Online Reporter