Massive power outages in the country have hit hard on local abattoirs as butcheries have cut down on uptake due to electricity unreliability, an industry official has said.
BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
Zimbabwe has been experiencing intensified countrywide power outages since the beginning of last month due to low generation capacities and rising demand.
Power shortages worsened after the country’s main electricity plant, Kariba Hydro, had its output capped at 475 megawatts (MW), down from the recent winter peak of 750MW due to low dam water levels.
Last week, power utility Zesa Holdings published a load-shedding schedule showing that all towns and cities will experience up to 18 hours per day without power as it grapples to meet demand.
Abattoirs Association of Zimbabwe chairperson Godfrey Chanetsa told NewsDay that industry was in doldrums due to a number of challenges chief among them the shortage of electricity and liquidity crunch.
“The industry is in doldrums at the moment and is affected by the downturn in the economy. The impact is quite heavy. The abattoirs are heavily stocked with beef which they cannot move as butcheries are saying they can’t stock due to unavailability of electricity,” Chanetsa said.
“As a result, sales have been affected and the stock is not moving. Prices of pork have come down to around $2,70 and $2,80 per kg because pork is very sensitive to heat. However, prices of beef have remained the same.”
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Chanetsa said consumers do not have disposable income as a result of the liquidity crisis. He said the development was threatening the viability of abattoirs and the generality of the raw leather industry.
Zimbabwe is grappling with biting electricity shortages causing rolling power cuts which are often blamed for keeping away potential investors. The country produces 1 060MW of electricity daily forcing local industries to use costly diesel generators to keep operations running.
However, the country has various ongoing projects that could generate an additional 3 500MW by 2018. Zesa is currently undertaking projects to increase capacity by 600MW at Hwange Power Station. The plant has an installed capacity of 920MW.
Kariba Power Station is being expanded by adding two units of 150MW each. The power plant currently has an installed capacity of 750MW.
Other power generation projects coming up include the 600MW coal-fired plant by Pan-African Energy Producers (PER) Lusulu, which will be the first phase of a project that will eventually produce 2 000MW.
Other projects in the pipeline include Sengwa (1 200MW), China Africa Sunlight (600MW), Makomo (600MW) and Essar (600 MW).
However, some of the projects have been stalled due to lack of funding.
