Zimbabwe agrees $230 million deal to upgrade power plants

• 11 years ago (2012-06-07)
• Junior Isles

Africa 303

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Zimbabwe’s government has approved a $230 million power deal between Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and Indian firm WAPCOS Limited to upgrade boilers at three of the country’s thermal power stations, Energy and Power Development minister Elton Mangoma has said.

“We discussed the issue in Cabinet... and it was approved. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed and what was left was for Cabinet to approve the process and it was approved,”, said Mangoma.

“Essentially, the deal involves revamping boilers at the three power stations to increase power generation,” he elaborated. The timeframe for the project is currently undisclosed.

ZPC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zesa Holdings and is responsible for the electricity generation and other energy-related services.

The thermal stations to be upgraded are in Bulawayo, Hwange and Munyati.

The deal also includes a feasibility study for the Gairezi hydro-power station and the upgrading of Hwange’s Deka pumping station.

WAPCOS is an accredited public sector enterprise under India’s Union Ministry of Water Resource.

Zimbabwe is currently experiencing severe power supply problems due to years of under-investment in power generation and antiquated equipment at major plants.

Zimbabwe’s peak power demand stands at 2100 MW against, reliable, domestic capacity of 1700 MW from the Kariba hydro-power plant and various thermal plants around the country. Power imports currently make up the shortfall.

The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has now resorted to an average eight-hour-long daily load-shedding regime, and attributes the continuing power crisis to depressed generation capacity in Zimbabwe and a reduced capacity to import.