Load shedding to increase, due to maintenance at Kariba: Zesa
by Moyo Roy
2011 May 01 10:34:52
THE country should brace for increased load shedding between now and next
week as Zesa Holdings embarks on annual maintenance of generator
transformers at the Kariba Power Station.
The maintenance, which is done annually at the onset of the winter season,
started on Wednesday and is expected to be complete by May 8.
Zesa spokesperson, Mr Fullard Gwasira, yesterday said during the maintenance
period, an estimated 250 megawatts would be lost. However, efforts are being
made to cover the deficit with imports.
The country produces about 1200 MW a day from the four power stations;
Hwange, Munyati, Kariba and Harare. On average, Zimbabwe needs about 2200 MW
a day. Kariba has six generators.
Mr Gwasira said although they have made alternative arrangements with other
regional power utilities to assist with supplies during the maintenance
works, supplies might still not be enough during peak hours – hence the
increased load shedding.
Zesa is importing power from Mozambique with whom it has an agreement for 50
MW (guaranteed) and 150 MW (non-guaranteed), which depends on whether the
neighbour has excess power.
“Customers might see a slight increase in load shedding but the good thing
about it is that upon completion of the servicing, the generator
transformers will be more efficient to deal with high demand that is usually
associated with winter,” Mr Gwasira said.
“In fact after the servicing, we expect to generate more electricity by
about 15 more megawatts,” he said.
Mr Gwasira urged customers to use the available electricity sparingly to
alleviate the extent and duration of load shedding.
He lamented the failure by people to pay bills on time saying it continued
to impact negatively on the amount of electricity generated. Currently, Mr
Gwasira said Zesa was owed about US$450 million in electricity bills.
“If all these people pay up, we will be able to generate enough and import
more electricity for everyone without any load shedding. We will also be
able to pay our suppliers on time,” he said.