Hwange Unit 7 back online, Unit 8 on test

Zim Now Writer

Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7, will be back online on Monday while Unit 8 will be running on a test basis, Energy and Power Development Minister Soda Zhemu has said.

“We now expect that we will be having a contribution of 600 megawatts that will be coming from the expansion project any time before the end of this month, the 300 megawatts coming on commercial availability and the 300 megawatts from Unit 8 still on commercial test,” Minister Zhemu told senators on Thursday.

He said Unit 7 is now fully functional.

File image of celebration by the team oat the moment that Hwange Unit 7 went live

“It was being run on commissioning tests where they were testing the turbine running capacity, which was successful and also the boiler hydraulics. What happened is that after running it for the period of the tests, they took it out of the grid in order for technicians to do evaluations before the unit is run on commercial basis,” said Minister Zhemu.

He also explained that Unit 8 synchronisation had suffered a setback which is being sorted.

Minister Zhemu said three hours after Unit 8 synchronisation, engineers discovered an area of concern and took the unit off the grid.

“They have been working on the unit and according to what they had pre-determined at a time when they took it off the grid, the unit was supposed to be tied back to the grid today (Thursday),” the minister said.

National power output is now around 1 200MW up from less than 400MW early this year resulting in less load shedding and a reduced import bill.

After rehabilitation of the older six units, Hwange will produce a maximum of 1 520MW going a long way in meeting Zimbabwe’s increasing power demand which currently stands at over 2000MW.