adminpartly meet the country’s power demands.
The proposed rehabilitation programme will see average output from available plants increasing from the current production of 1 200MW to a target of between 1 600MW and 1 900MW for 2011 and 2012.
Installed capacity presently stands at 1 920MW against a demand of 2 200MW.
Finance Minister, Tendai Biti recently noted in his budget strategy for 2012 that the rehabilitation exercise would be funded through the 2012 National Budget and the Zimbabwe Power Company’s own contributions.
This project also includes the rehabilitation of all small thermal power stations.
“In order to achieve these targets an amount of US$80 million is required for the rehabilitation of power plants, including small thermal power stations,” said the minister.
The country is faced with serious power outages, which have adversely affected production levels across all sectors of the economy, mainly mining, agriculture and manufacturing.
Crippling power shortages have seen the Government going all out to lure investors into the power sector and so far US$10 billion worth of power projects have been approved and await implementation.
Power utility Zesa is owed more than US$470 million by customers and they have blamed this on non-payments of bills.
Zesa is unable to maintain equipment due to cash constraints, which worsened the shortages and failure by consumers to pay for power made it worse.
Erratic power supplies have resulted in mostly mining companies, directly importing power from neighbouring Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zimbabwe has been importing power from the two countries including South Africa, which is also facing serious power demands due to the expanding industry.
In the long term, Zimbabwe is pinning its hopes of increasing power generation through Public Private Partnerships.
According to Minister Biti the construction of new generation plants at Hwange 7 and 8, and expansion of Kariba South requires US$1 billion and US$400 million respectively, generating an additional 900MW.
“These projects lend themselves to financing through PPPs following expression on interest already received,” Minister Biti said.
About 13 independent power producers were granted operating licences and nothing has so far materialised.
The International Monetary Fund recently said Zimbabwe requires US$13 billion to stabilise the energy sector and speed up rural electrification.
Zimbabwe’s transmission and distribution infrastructure requires rehabilitation and upgrading, following years of inadequate maintenance and vandalism, while new settlements and rural areas require connection to the national grid.
Going forward, the Government has targeted to increase power generation capacity from 1 960 megawatts to 2 800MW by 2015, as part of its infrastructure development programme during the five-year lifespan of the Medium Term Plan.
Development of reliable power infrastructure has been cited in the new economic policy as critical for sustainable economic recovery, growth and development.
Broadly, the MTP envisages restoration of all basic infrastructure including road, air and rail transport, ICT, water and sanitation in the period to 2015.
Online Reporter