Power supply set to improve as Hwange Unit 8 synch...

Power supply set to improve as Hwange Unit 8 synchronisation looms

Zim Now Writer

The synchronisation of Hwange Unit 8 I scheduled for May 16, a development which will further improve the country’s generation capacity, easing the obtaining load shedding.

The improvement in power supply will also help industrial operations in a big way.

Following the successful synchronisation of Unit 7 last month, Zesa Holdings announced a reduction in load shedding in response to the rising domestic power generation capacity, which has seen the country surpassing 1 000MW total output from the lowest of about 300MW in February this year.

Energy and Power Development Minister Soda Zhemu told journalists at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo that Unit 8 was ready and affirmed the improvements in power supply occasioned by synchronisation of Hwange Unit 7.

“Hwange Unit 7 has been under construction for quite some time but it was synchronised onto the national grid on 20 March and is still undergoing commissioning tests at various performance levels. I am pleased to announce that on 16 May we will witness the syncronisation of Unit 8 and getting connected onto the national grid. In June we will have Unit 7 being available commercially. What it means is that we shall have a constant supply of 300 megawatts,” he said.

On improvements at Kariba, the minister said: “Over and above that you might be aware that last year we experienced some problems with generations from Kariba, where initially it was supposed to be a total shut down of the Kariba Power Station, but after negotiations with our counterparts in Zambia, the power utility was allowed to generate an average of 250 megawatts.

“As of last week, there has been some technical committee communications where there has been a review of generation from Kariba which has increased the generation to an average of 500 megawatts. However, we intend to increase that in line with the demands for winter wheat production activities,” he said.

Zhemu also slammed the vandalism on power infrastructure which has compromised electricity supply in some cases following theft of copper cables and other power components such as transformers.