Africa Moyo Deputy News Editor
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings, has applied for a tariff increase to cushion it from rising costs of raw materials such as coal, diesel and water.

In a statement, ZETDC said it had filed its application with the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera).

It is understood ZETDC wants about USc13/kWh.

“The current tariff of ZWLc9,86/kWh has been severely eroded due to the prevailing economic environment. As of July 2019, the real tariff was approximately USc1/kWh against an average of USc10/kWh in the SADC region,” said ZETDC.

“The utility has been negatively affected by local inflation to the extent that its viability has been compromised.”

ZETDC says electricity production has been impacted by low water levels in Lake Kariba, which has restricted power production to an average capacity of 358MW against the previous average of 750MW.

The company said coal prices have gone up to US$26 per tonne or $230,20 in local currency, diesel US$1,26 per litre or $7,22 and Kariba water US$1,2 million or $10,56 million per month.

Said ZETDC: “The tariff applied for will enable ZETDC to raise the required working capital for the improvement of among other things, local electricity generation, procurement of critical spares as well as electricity imports.”