Kariba Dam level rises to 77 percent

KARIBA Dam water level rose to 77 percent full early this week, raising hopes of more power generation from Kariba South Power Station, which has extended capacity.
Official data from the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) indicates that as at September 17, 2018 the country’s main source of hydro-electricity power was 77 percent full at 485,78 meters, compared to 49 percent full at the same period last year.
This is welcome development as Zimbabwe produces 1 200 Megawatts (MW) of electricity against demand of 1 400MW during peak period, To plug the deficit, the country imports power from South Africa and Mozambique.
Kariba South now has new installed capacity of 1 050 megawatts following the extension of its capacity by a further 300 megawatts, undertaken by Chinese firm Sinohydro at a cost of $533 million.
Sinohydro has also been contracted to increase Hwange Power Station’s 920MW design capacity by 600MW at a cost of $1,5 billion, with draw downs on the loan provided by China Eximbank having started last week.
Kariba South Power Station is critical to Zimbabwe’s energy mix as it supplies the country with the cheapest power at about two to three cents per kilowatt hour.
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