Zimbabwe’s state-run power company, Zesa Holdings, says it will step up efforts to revive operations of its three small thermal power stations in light of the diminishing electricity imports from conventional suppliers, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The three thermal stations, at Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare, have not been in operation due to coal shortages. They produce a combined 150MW when fired to full capacity, the Herald said.
Zesa spokesperson Ben Rafemoyo said nearly Z$1-trillion has been targeted for building up stocks to fire the thermal juniors.
”It is an area we are seriously looking at. We need to revive the small thermals to augment supply, especially at a time when imports from other countries are dwindling.
”Once coal is there, then we can now move on to consumables.”
Power exports from traditional suppliers have been falling for different reasons. At the moment Zimbabwe is getting about 75MW from Mozambique, the Herald said.
Eskom of South Africa, which used to export 400MW at any given time to Zimbabwe, has since stopped due to ”some operational hitches” at its power-generating plants, the newspaper said.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, on the other hand, has also stopped supplies due to recurrent technical faults at its transmission network.
”What we do not want is a situation were we fire the generators for two or three days, then we run out of coal. That is very uneconomic and very expensive,” said Rafemoyo.
Currently, the major sources for Zimbabwe’s electricity are Hwange Thermal Power Station, producing an average of 250MW, and Kariba South, presently producing 750MW.
The country required at least 1 500MW daily, the newspaper said.
”Zesa is currently struggling to meet rising electricity demand owing to a variety of factors [such as] coal shortages and hard currency limitations needed in the importation of at least 35% of the country’s total energy requirements.” — Sapa