President Mnangagwa commissions Hwange Unit 7 and 8

Hwange (New Ziana) -President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday officially commissioned Units 7 and 8 at the Hwange Thermal Power Station, which have since added 600 Megawatts to the national grid.

Speaking during the commissioning, President Mnangagwa said the government had managed to complete the construction of the two new Units despite the economic sanctions that some Western countries imposed on the country.

He commended the Chinese government for the unwavering support that it has rendered the country, which has enabled it to weather the effects of the economic sanctions.

China has supported Zimbabwe in its pursuit for economic development and has stood by the country at international fora where it has opposed attempts by Western countries to interfere in its internal affairs.

Addressing thousands of jubilant supporters at the Hwange Colliery Stadium, a jovial President Mnangagwa said the commissioning of Units 7 and 8 was a celebration of the partnership between Zimbabwe and China.

Hwange Units 7 and 8 Unit were constructed at a cost of about US$1.5 billion by a Chinese contractor, bringing a lifeline to the aged thermal power station.

“Despite the sanctions imposed by the West, we still have friends who stood with us and that friendship is becoming a reality as we commission Hwange 7 and 8 units. These (the Chinese) are our friends,” said President Mnangagwa.

“Those who imposed the sanctions could not believe that today we could be developing our country at the pace we are moving.”

He said sanctions had driven the country to come up with innovative ideas and to think outside the box.

“We have come to commission Unit 7 and 8 which gives us an excess of 600 MW. We are saying goodbye to load shedding. As our economy grows and as our industry grows, we shall need more energy to industrialize our motherland Zimbabwe.”

“The time the sanctions were imposed, the country was food insecure. But we have introduced a model of agriculture that mitigates climate change. For the past three years we have been food secure,'” he said.

Turning to the upcoming harmonised elections, President Mnangagwa urged the nation to maintain peace before, during and after the polls.

“We are a humble nation, we shall continue to preach peace. I want to commend other parties who have been preaching peace, we are brothers and sisters, we may differ politically but we remain children of Zimbabwe,” he said..

Speaking at the same occasion, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhou Ding said the Hwange Thermal Power Station Expansion was a flagship project which his government had funded through concessional loans under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Hwange Unit 7 and 8 Expansion project has become the largest infrastructure project in Zimbabwe in the past 40 years.

In addition to providing Zimbabwe with reliable power supply and brightening up millions of Zimbabwean households, the project will also inject new vitality into the country’s socio-economic development, said Zhou.

New Ziana