The Hwange Power Station (HPS) is likely to get back on stream soon following last week’s systems failure which plunged most parts of the country into a two-hour-long power blackout.
According to the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) spokesperson Fullard Gwasira restoration of the power station was almost complete.
“The Hwange Power Station was restored the day after the temporary collapse and it has been up since then,” he said.
“However, it is not yet producing to capacity because not all the units have been restored. There is one unit which is still down.”
He said the power station was currently producing 383 megawatts (MW) instead of 750MW, when operating at full capacity.
The two-hour blackout that hit most parts of the country last Wednesday was reportedly caused by a systems disturbance at Kariba Hydro-power Station during which all five units that supply the country with power tripped.
The power outage affected areas such as Harare, Gweru, Chinhoyi, Masvingo, Beitbridge, Bulawayo and many others.
The disturbances also affected HPS, which then led to an unstable grid, resulting in the disconnection of inter-connectors at Insukamini (South Africa) and Songo (Mozambique). Two weeks ago, HPS collapsed when diesel pump bearings ceased.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The parastatal has always said the availability of power on any given day depends on the amount of energy produced at HPS and the regional imports the country receives.
As of yesterday, HPS was producing 383MW, Kariba was at 615MW, Munyati was producing 40MW, Harare was at 15MW and Bulawayo Power Station was producing 30MW.
The Hwange Thermal Power Station is the biggest power plant in Zimbabwe with an installed capacity of 920MW. The plant was built in the 1980s, and its location was chosen because of nearby coalfields.
