Kariba shutdown dims economic prospects

Zim Now Writer

Zimbabwean’s expectations for a good year end and a vibrant start to 2023 have been switched off after the Zambezi River Authority shut down Kariba Hydro Power Station power generation due to low water levels at Kariba Dam.

Industry and household consumer alike are faced with bleak prospects of blackouts:

“Please be advised that as of 25th November 2022, Kariba South Bank Power Station had utilised 23.89 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) of water, accounting for 1.39 BCM (or 6.16%) above the 2022 water allocation of 22.50 BCM. Given that the Kariba Reservoir usable storage currently stands at a paltry 2.98 BCM or 4.60% full, and that ZESCO Limited still has a positive balance of 2.44BCM (10.82%) as of 25th November 2022, ZPC/KHPC no longer has any usable water to continue undertaking power generation operations at Kariba South Bank Power Station,” wrote ZRA CEO Munyaradzi Munodawafa in his directive to Zimbabwe Power Company.

The shutdown is set to run until the end of Q1 2023 when a review of water levels will guide on the way forward.

“With the current performance of the 2022/2023 rainfall season in the Kariba Lower Catchment where the river flows are yet to improve and the associated inflows from the Upper Kariba Catchment which will only influence any potential increase in the Lake Level at Kariba during the latter part of the first quarter of 2023, it is highly unlikely that there will be any reasonable inflow augmentation in the remaining period of the year 2022, giving little or no chance of improvement in the reservoir storage levels during the remaining period of the year 2022 and going into the first quarter of the year 2023,” said Munodawafa in his communique.

What is our current situation?

Energy ministry secretary Gloria Magombo recently said the country needs up to 1850MW of power daily.

Zimbabwe has the capacity to produce 2289MW:

Kariba 1050MW

Hwange 920MW

Harare 100MW

Bulawayo 90MW

Munyati 100MW

Independent producers 29MW

So why do we have shortages?

Power cuts have been the order of the day for the past few weeks. Engineer Magombo also revealed that the country has to import 200-450MW daily to cover shortfalls in capacity.

Faults and breakdowns due to aging equipment seriously affect the power production. Maintenance also occasionally results in capacity reduction.

In the past week the situation was as follows

Hwange 231/920MW

Kariba 475/1050MW  

Independent 29

Imported 290

Total 1025

Harare, Munyati and Bulawayo were all down due to no coal supplies

Thus the country had a total of 1025MW against the demand of 1700 to 1850MW, hence the intense load shedding for most residential areas.

What the does Kariba shutdown mean?

If current situation obtains, the country only has 550MW against a demand of 1850MW implying that there will only be a few hours of power supply for any given area each day

What can be done?

Hwange faults fixed 920MW

Hwange Unit 7 commissioned 300MW

Small units fired 290MW

Total 1510MW

Imports 200-340MW

Conclusion

Businesses in Zimbabwe are just about starting to recover from the effects of the hyperinflationary period that the country went through mid-year.

Repercussions of reduced or stopped production will affect the whole outlook of the economy negatively.

The authorities have the means to avert the economic disaster that increased blackouts would mean.

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