ZESA Holdings (Zesa) says electricity challenges are set to ease during the festive season, after the power company completed the refurbishment of three units at Kariba South Hydro-Power station.
This comes as the country is currently facing a crippling power crisis, which recently saw Zesa announcing a load shedding schedule, which has resulted in some suburbs going for between eight and 12 hours without electricity.
Currently, consumers pay between $2,12 per kWh and $12,74 per kWh, depending on their monthly usage.
“The return to service of the units will restore 345 megawatts of power to the national grid, thus significantly reducing the supply gap that had increased load shedding,” Zesa said in a statement this week, adding that with effect from today, there will be minimal power cuts.
Business has previously raised concerns over the erratic power supply, saying this was contributing to the cost overhead, as companies have to look for alternative sources of energy.
“Erratic power supplies have resulted in huge losses for most businesses over the years due to interrupted operations, lost time and revenue, damage to machines and lost data,” a latest Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce’s (ZNCC) inaugural State of Industry and Commerce Survey, revealed.
ZNCC said other sources of energy such as liquid fuels were expensive considering the unit price of fuel, which was among the highest in the region.
Zesa has attributed the erratic power supplies to excess demand and the $16 billion (US$64 million) owed by its customers.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube recently said that the government was pursuing a “cost recovery” plan for Zesa next year, with power tariffs in Zimbabwe set to go up.
In the past, the government had limited power tariff hikes to restrain inflation, restricting Zesa’s cost recovery.
Currently, consumers pay between $2,12 per kWh and $12,74 per kWh, depending on their monthly usage.
Meanwhile, the State power utility has struggled to raise capital to revamp its infrastructure, with three of its stations operating at about 10 percent of installed capacity, leading to serious power shortages.
“Zesa requires a tariff level that provides for maintenance of existing infrastructure, as well as investments in new capacity.
“While efforts are underway to improve on governance, the government’s trust is to achieve a cost recovery tariff in 2022, guided by the cost-of-service study findings by the World Bank.
“This is also in line with the Cabinet decision to streamline subsidies,” Ncube said in his 2022 national budget statement.
Zimbabwe needs between
1 350MW and 1 800MW to meet its daily electricity demand, against a current production capacity of around 1 000 megawatts, weighed down by vandalism and limited generation at the creaky Hwange, Kariba, Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare power stations, which are constantly breaking down.
Over the past few years, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority has licensed over 50 independent power producers (IPPs) — including Duru Mini Hydro (2,2 MW), Green Fuel (18,3MW), Nyamingura Mini Hydro (1,10MW), Hippo Valley Estates (33MW), Triangle Estates (45MW) and Pungwe Power Station (19MW) in a bid to boost power generation.
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