The Harare government is to meet Russian energy officials this week to discuss energy investment in Zimbabwe’s power sector, Zim Online reported on Monday.
It said officials from Russia’s TurboEngineering firm were expected to arrive in Harare on Sunday night.
During their stay until July 22, the Russian officials were scheduled to hold talks with officials from the ministries of energy, finance and foreign affairs.
The officials were said to be keen to invest in the development of the Condo hydro-electric plant, Gairezi power plant and the Batoka hydro-electric project on the Zambezi river.
In a letter to the state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) dated June 30 2006, TurboEngeneering managing director Alexey Semenkov said Russian and international banks had agreed in principle to finance Zimbabwean power projects.
The three projects would yield close to 1 000 megawatts once in full production and would see an end to Zimbabwe’s crippling power shortages.
Zimbabwean industry and homes suffer from hours of power cuts every day.
At the weekend, Zesa officials warned power shortages would worsen in coming days after a breakdown at the country’s main hydro-electric plant at the Kariba dam. – Sapa