ZPC to expand lifespan of Hwange power station

By Rutendo Mapfumo
Hwange (New Ziana)- The Zimbabwe Power Company has procured a USD$310 million line of credit from India to refurbish Units One to Six of the Hwange Power station as it steps up efforts to curb persistent power cuts that have hit the country in the past two weeks crippling business and farming operations, a ZPC official has said.

The power outages frequently being experienced countrywide are due to primarily outdated Units 1-6 of Hwange Power station which have gone beyond their designed life span by eight years.

In an interview with New Ziana in Hwange today, ZPC General Manager Shepherd Mukundu said the frequent occurrence of power outage are being caused by breakdowns of Units One to Six which are old.

“The plant is too old; it has reached its design life. The plant is now 38 years old, and its designed life is 30 years meaning we are eight years over its designed life,” said Mukundu.

However, the General Manager said the company is working towards extending the Hwange Power Plant by another 20 years following the capital injection.

“We plan to refurbish the plant after we commission Unit 7 and 8 and after that we kick start the life extension project which will run for a period of 3-5 years,” he said.

Mukundu said the company has a line of credit from India and the life extension project will kick start in 2023.

Complaints have however been raised by the public on the need for ZETDC to release a load shedding timetable.

Nationwide blackouts of 12-16 hours a day have been reported and this has been affecting the business community nationwide. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority estimates that the country is generating only 1,186 MW of electricity, against demand of 2,000 MW.
New Ziana