ZESA Holdings needs about $2 billion for the expansion of Hwange and Kariba Power stations to produce an extra 900 megawatts (MW) of electricity.
Report by Richard Muponde
The expansion will increase the national power production to an average of 2 200MW from the current 1 300MW.
Responding to emailed questions, Zesa spokesperson Fullard Gwasira said the project would take four years to be completed and a contractor had already been indentified for the Kariba expansion.
“The expansion of Hwange 7 and 8 and Kariba 7 and 8 has not yet started as the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) is awaiting finalisation of the tendering process by the State Procurement Board,” he said.
“Once the tenders are finalised and contractors are engaged, the expansion projects will take four years to complete. A contractor Sino Hydro has been engaged for the Kariba 7 and 8 expansions.”
He said more than $2 billion would be needed to complete the projects, but the power utility was still sourcing funds with the hope of commencing the projects next year.
“Kariba 7 and 8 expansions are expected to generate a total output of 300MW from the additional capacity while Hwange 7and 8 are expected to generate a total output of 600MW from the additional capacity,” Gwasira said.
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The total cost for the Hwange Power Station expansion is $1,93 billion and that of Kariba Power Station is $771 million, which the ZPC is still sourcing.
The new development is expected to bring relief to Zimbabweans who have experienced excessive load-shedding for the past 10 years.
