Fairness Moyana/ Nomvelo Siziba/Africa Moyo, Chronicle Reporters

WORK at Hwange Power Station expansion project was suspended while coal mines were flooded following heavy rains that caused flash floods in Hwange at the weekend.

Hwange received a total of 139mm of rain within three hours on Saturday resulting in flash floods.

At least 70 people were affected by the flooding with more than 35 in a dire situation having been evacuated to temporary shelter at Hwange Colliery Company guest house. 

Although Hwange Power Station general manager Arnold Chivurayise and Zesa spokesperson, Mr Fullard Gwasira could not be reached for comment yesterday sources at the station said work was temporarily stopped as  flash floods left water and mud covering the construction site, making it difficult for works to continue.

“We were forced to suspend operations as a result of the flooding after the sites of major works was submerged in water and mud. 

“What’s happening now is that water has to be pumped out before construction can resume. So work on the steel structure installation and boiler structure installation has been delayed until the water is cleared,” said a source.

The project, being carried out by Chinese firm Sino Hydro, is now 35 percent complete.

Once complete in 2022 it will add 600 megawatts of electricity to the national grid. 

Hwange District Civil Protection Committee chairperson, Mr Simbarashe Kayela said they were still compiling the list of the exact number of affected families.

He said they were also working with stakeholders to address some issues relating to flooding and humanitarian assistance. 

“We are in the process of assessing the impact of the floods on the families affected while working with stakeholders to render assistance that may arise as a result of the displacement. 

“We are also assessing the number of people affected as most have been evacuated by the Colliery while some are being taken care of by the church.”

Greater Hwange Residents Trust coordinator Mr Fidelis Chima said the poor drainage system  caused the flooding.

“In Hwange, if we receive high rainfall many people lose their property and residents blame Colliery Company for its failure to address the poor drainage system. 

“This time the number of people who lost their property was high compared to previous years,” said Mr Chima.

He said Hwange Colliery Company evacuated families that were affected by the floods to their guest house and some company houses that were vacant.

“The families that were affected by the floods were taken to Hwange Colliery Company guest house until the situation is dealt with. I would like to thank well-wishers who are giving the affected families food and clothes,” said Mr Chima.

 Hwange Colliery spokesperson, Ms Rugare Dhobbie said poor drainage cannot be blamed for the floods and loss of property.

“Hwange on Saturday received 139mm rainfall in three hours that led to the drainage system being overwhelmed. People cannot blame Colliery company about poor drainage because previous years we usually receive 50mm or less but this time 139mm in three hours was too much,” said Ms Dhobbie.

 She said their team is working on blocked drainages and if it does not rain again everything will be back to normal soon.

“The situation is better now. Our team is on the ground fixing the drainages that were blocked and we hope that if in two days there is no rain, everything will be back to normal soon,” she said.

The heavy rain also flooded some mines that supply Hwange Thermal Power Station with coal, which could worsen the prevailing load shedding.

Coal miners said delayed payments totalling $100 million for power coal will slow pumping in the pits, while Zesa said poor quality power coal was damaging the station.

Coal Producers Association chairman Mr Raymond Mutokonyi, in an interview yesterday said his own Makomo Resources, the largest producer, was the worst affected. 

Hwange Colliery, the second largest, said output will not be affected since it can remove the flood inflows quickly.

“It is a disaster in terms of coal mining, as the pits are flooded,” said Mr Mutokonyi. 

“The situation is made worse by the fact that the dewatering process is expensive and most coal miners do not have money to undertake this mammoth exercise since the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) is not paying us for coal supplied. 

“Coal miners are owed in excess of $100 million by ZPC as at January 10, 2020, but we have supplied more coal since then and the figure is now over $100 million.

“All mines are affected and we hope to start the process of dewatering on Monday (today).”

The flooding of coal mines recently significantly cut output at South Africa’s thermal power stations, resulting in the rolling out of power outages from November to December last year.

There are a number of coal miners in Hwange, including Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL), Makomo Resources and Zambezi Gas.

Ms Dhobbie said operations had not been affected since they had top-of-the-range equipment for dewatering.

Makomo, which has become the country’s biggest coal miner after taking advantage of the operational challenges affecting Hwange Colliery, said it had been hit hard by the flooding. 

The miner supplies most of the coal for electricity generation to ZPC, the power generation unit of Zesa Holdings. 

ZPC is understood to be struggling to pay for coal since cash flows have been affected by load shedding, which has seen power consumption plunging significantly.

 While drought in the upper Zambezi catchment caused flows through the Kariba power stations to fall, Hwange itself is operating well below capacity, with decades of inadequate maintenance and refurbishment compounded by abrasive coal.