The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) is expecting $52 million from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to repower Harare Thermal Power Station (HTRS).
BY VICTORIA MTOMBA
ZPC managing director Noah Gwariro told NewsDay that the company and its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, Jaguar has applied for funding to the Cairo-headquartered bank.
“ZPC has made an application to Afreximbank bank for funding of the Harare repowering project. As part of the application process, ZPC is expected to make a down payment of $260 000 to Afreximbank Bank as appraisal fees,” he said.
“Payment of the $260 000 will unlock the process of financial closure. All things being constant, this process is expected to take approximately six months and only then can the Harare power station repowering project begin.”
The repowering of the HTRS requires $72 million.
Gwariro said the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe managed to raise $11,2 million for the project. He said ZPC would look for $9 million from local banks.
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The thermal Harare power station is generating between 10 and 25MW. It commenced operations in 1942 with a capacity of 21MW and was decommissioned in 1970. The station has two plants Harare 2 and Harare 3 which have a coal handling and water supply system. The Harare 2 plant was commissioned in 1947 with an installed capacity of 75 megawatts, but it was reduced to 30MW due to efficiency constraints. The Harare 3 plant was commissioned in 1955 with a capacity to produce 60MW of power.
ZPC is also working on the repowering of the Bulawayo Thermal Power Station with the prequalification of potential bidders for the project underway in India.
“The list of pre-qualified companies will then be provided by the India Exim Bank to the Government of Zimbabwe, thereafter the project will be put under a competitive bidding process by the Government of Zimbabwe,” Gwariro said.
He said the EPC tender closes this month, thereafter adjudication and due diligence would be carried out by ZPC.
The project is expected to start in the third quarter of 2016 and would take 24 months to complete.
“Contract negotiations for Munyati repowering were concluded with Jaguar Overseas, and due diligence is in progress,” he said.
During the first quarter of 2015 small thermal stations that include Harare, Bulawayo and Munyati missed their targets due to uneconomic and inefficient power production.
