Govt Exploring Funding For Hwange Power Station Repowering - Energy Minister

The Minister of Energy and Power Development, Edgar Moyo, said that the Government was aware of the reduced electricity generation at Kariba and was working to secure funding to repower Hwange Units One to Six for them to work at their full potential which is 920 megawatts.

In an interview with The Sunday News, Minister Moyo highlighted that the reduction in water allocation from the Kariba Dam by the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has significantly contributed to the current power shortages. Said Moyo:

We are keeping to the limit of the water allocation as given by the ZRA which is eight billion cubic metres allocated to Zimbabwe and the same to Zambia.

This allows us to generate about 214 megawatts which is way below our installed capacity at Kariba which is 1 050 megawatts.

What it means is that we have lost 800 megawatts capacity which is almost 50 percent of our requirement as a nation.

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We now have low generation at Kariba but not all is lost because we continue to conduct refurbishments and repairs on Units One to Six to improve the capacity at Hwange Thermal Power Station.

The repairs are temporary, they keep us going, but the long-term solution is to re-do or repower them so that they reach their full potential. By repowering, we mean that we will be installing new equipment.

He said said several investors have expressed interest in investing in the project but funding has yet to be secured. Said Moyo:

We cannot give specific timelines. Currently, we are working on the funding. You will be aware that these are huge projects which require capital injection which we may not have the capacity to provide.

We are also exploring funding through partnerships with local companies if they express interest. It is an open programme; it’s not confined to a specific funder. Whatever comes and suits our purpose it will be done.

Several investors have also expressed interest, they have come to inspect and we still await their feedback in terms of taking up those units. Two weeks back, we had investors coming from China.

This came after I led a delegation to China in January scouting for investments in the different sectors of the energy sector and the company which came two weeks ago expressed interest.

It made a follow-up visit to come and see the Hwange Power plant and other projects.

They also want to do 200 megawatts of solar. So it is an ongoing thing that we continue to engage and explore and once we sign a deal, you will be advised.

Plans to repower Units 1 to 6 of Hwange Thermal Power Station follow the construction of Units 7 and 8 for US$1.5 billion. The units have a combined capacity of 600 megawatts.

However, despite the commissioning of the two units, electricity shortages persist in the country due to other factors, including the El Nino-induced drought that adversely affected the Kariba Hydroelectric power station.

More: Pindula News