Moz cuts power to Zimbabwe
March 15 2012 at 02:27pm
Mozambique has cut off electricity supply to Zimbabwe over unpaid debts
totalling $75 million, causing rolling power outages, Zimbabwe’s energy
minister said on Thursday.
“Hydro Cabora Bassa switched off supplies to Zimbabwe on Thursday or Friday
last week over the money owed which is around $75 million or $76 million,”
Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma told AFP.
“We are now switching off defaulters as part of efforts to raise the money,”
he said.
Since Mozambique’s Hydro cut off Zimbabwe, several suburbs of the capital
Harare have gone for days without electricity, while other places suffer up
to 10 hours of power cuts, as the utility Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) comes under pressure to save power.
Zimbabwe needs 2 200 megawatts of electricity at peak but generates just 1
300 megawatts and imports the remainder, including 100 to 185 megawatts from
Hydro Cahora Bassa.
Last month, Mangoma warned a parliamentary committee that Zimbabwe risked
being cut off if it failed to settle its debt with Hydro.
He said ZESA had accumulated almost a billion dollars in unpaid electricity
imports, unserviced loans and outstanding contributions to a joint power
project with neighbouring Zambia.
The firm also plans to introduce pre-paid meters to improve its revenue
collection.
Last year ZESA announced it would hand out more than 5.5 million
power-saving fluorescent light bulbs to households across the country to
curb consumption. – AFP