ZPC needs US$90m for mini-hydro project

feasibility studies for the project had been concluded.
“ZPC is focusing on the 30MW Gairezi mini-hydro power plant project in Nyanga which will cost about US$90 million,” said the statement.
“The engineering phase which involves generation of specifications, tendering for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor and environmental impact assessment (EIA) is in progress.”
The company said the project was expected to take between 24 and 36 months to complete.
ZPC said it was also considering re-activating the Harare, Bulawayo and Munyati thermal power plants.
The company said the project involved replacing the current boiler plants with new Circulating Fluidised Bed (CFB) technology.
It said this would increase the generating capacities of the three power stations to 340MW from the existing installed capacity of 310MW. The development comes as power generation for all thermal power stations was below target during the first half of the year.
Overall generation capacity averaged 960MW for the period under review. This was despite efforts by the utility to rehabilitate all the power stations.
The low generation capacity was attributed to breakdowns at Hwange Power Station, resulting in loss of Generators 1 and 2.
Intermittent generation at all the three thermal power station was due to costly transportation of coal and ageing equipment and temporary loss of Kariba Generator 2 owing to modernisation work.
Electricity imports were constrained during the first half of the year due to the huge external debt, lack of adequate financial resources and declining surpluses within the region.
Zimbabwe does not generate enough electricity to meet its needs, and supplies are currently being rationed between domestic and commercial users. — Business Reporter-New Ziana.