Lake Mutirikwi Hydro Power Plant 70% complete

Zim Now Writer

Work on Lake Mutirikwi’s 5MW mini-hydro power plant that is being constructed at a cost of approximately US$14.5 million is 70% complete and is set to meet scheduled commissioning on November 30 this year.

Great Zimbabwe Hydro Power Company is rolling out the project, one the many development projects being undertaken in Masvingo.

Power from the station, around 0.5 percent the size of Kariba South, will be fed into the national grid and is part of Zimbabwe’s efforts to continuously lean towards clean energy in line with global trends to shift to eco-friendly sources of energy to contain global warming.

Great Zimbabwe Hydro Power Company projects executive coordinator Hubert Chipfumbu confirmed that work on the station was going according to plan with key equipment having already been delivered from Europe, China and South Africa.

The station has created hundreds of direct and indirect jobs for communities around Lake Mutirikwi.

“We have already taken delivery of sleeve valves from South Africa, while the penstock and overhead crane have also been delivered from China and we are very happy that everything is going according to plan putting us in line to complete the project and have it commissioned on the scheduled November 30, 2023 date,’’ said Chipfumbu.

“We are also excited to announce that we have also already taken delivery of electromechanical equipment for the power plant from Europe, so I can safely say everything is really going according to plan,’’ he said.

The Mutirikwi power generation project is expected to be a game changer that will inspire similar projects across the province that has arguably the country’s highest dam density which could be tapped for hydro power generation.