ZESA subsidises Namibia power imports
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Vusimuzi Bhebhe
Friday, 11 February 2011 17:27
HARARE – Energy Minister Elton Mangoma (Pictured) says Zimbabwe is
subsidising Namibian power imports and wants terms of a 2008 barter deal
between the two countries reviewed in order to come up with a win-win
scenario.
Mangoma said teams from the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) and
Namibia’s NamPower were currently reviewing the barter deal under which the
Namibian power utility funded the rehabilitation of an ageing Zimbabwean
power station in exchange for subsidised electricity supply.
The review is meant to realign the tariffs that ZESA is charging NamPower to
market rates. “We want the tariffs to be cost-effective and the matter is
being handled at utility level. If they fail to reach an agreement, the
matter will be raised at the ministerial level,” Mangoma told the latest
edition of a weekly newsletter published by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
He said the Zimbabwe government position was that the tariffs should at
least meet the cost of producing electricity at Hwange.
“My position is that there is no way that Zimbabwe can subsidise Namibia as
far as power is concerned. Namibia should pay the actual cost at the very
minimum for the power they are getting,” said Mangoma, a member of
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party which was not part of the Zimbabwean government
when the deal was agreed three years ago. He did not say how much NamPower
was currently paying for the electricity and how much it costs to produce
the power.
He said Zimbabwe was still grateful for the US$40 million provided by
NamPower for the refurbishment of Hwange Power Station and would continue to
honour its electricity supply obligation to Namibia. “We continue to honour
the obligation but we want it to be fair,” he added. NamPower provided US$40
million for the refurbishment of Hwange Power Station in Zimbabwe in 2008 in
exchange for 150 megawatts of electricity generated at the Zimbabwean plant
until 2013.
This is the second time an MDC-T minister has questioned the terms of the
barter deal following a similar query by former energy minister Elias
Mudzuri two years ago.
Mudzuri even went on to threaten to cancel the transaction but later
retracted his statement following an outcry from Windhoek. Zimbabwe requires
2 000MW of power a day but the country currently produces only 1 300MW and
imports 300MW, leaving a shortfall of 400MW.