Zimbabwe shortlists bids for enlarging power plants
Tue Mar 27, 2012 5:05pm GMT
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Zimbabwe has short-listed eleven bidders for the
expansion of its Hwange and Kariba South power plants, with a winner
expected to be announced in the third quarter of this year, its energy
minister said on Tuesday.
It has been battling power shortages due to growing demand and ageing
plants, limiting supplies to industry and the key mining sector. Zimbabwe
produces around 1,000 MW of electricity, compared with peak demand of 2,200
MW.
The extension of the Hwange thermal power station will add 600 megawatts
(MW) to the Zimbabwean national grid, while the extension of the Kariba
South hydro plant will add 300 MW.
Elton Mangoma said companies from China, India, South Korea, Italy and
Brazil were among the shortlisted and the firms have until the first week in
June to submit a detailed proposal.
“I’m hoping that it will not take more than three months to adjudicate and
thereafter award the tender. We are hoping that in the fourth quarter we can
move on the projects,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of an African power
conference in Johannesburg.
Mangoma said additional units at the two plants will be operated in a
public-partnership between the Zimbabwe government and whoever is chosen to
build the plants.
The minister said Zimbabwe still owed around $85 million in unpaid power
imports, mainly to neighbouring Mozambique.
Mangoma said he was meeting Mozambican officials on Thursday to address the
issue, especially after Mozambique halved its exports to Zimbabwe to 50 MW
due to the unpaid bills.
The minister said that together with neighbouring Zambia his country had in
February decided to revive the Batoka Gorge hydroelectric power project,
estimated to cost $2.5 billion, and expected to supply a total of 1,600 MW
to the two countries.
The two neighbours will look for an independent power producer to construct
the plant on a build-operate-transfer basis.
The 1,600 MW, which could later be upscaled to 2,000 MW, would be evenly
split between the two countries, he said.
Mangoma said the project was in the preliminary stages and it would be too
early to comment on time lines.
In the meantime, the minister hoped to convince utilities in the region to
boost trade of electricity during off-peak times to alleviate the most
pressing shortages.