Thumbs-up for Mutirikwi mini-hydro power plant
George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
Work on a $13,5 million mini-hydro power plant on Lake Mutirikwi Dam is set to begin soon after Masvingo Rural District Council gave the green light.
Great Zimbabwe Hydro Power Company – a joint venture between a Zimbabwean firm ZOL and New Planet of South Africa -recently got permission from the Masvingo RDC to go ahead with the project that will generate five megawatts upon completion.
Masvingo RDC acting chief executive Mr Martin Mubviro last week said they were jointly managing the power generation project with the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa).
Mr Mubviro said his council passed a resolution giving Great Zimbabwe Power Company permission to start work on the power plant.
“Zinwa will deal with the remaining issues that need to be sorted out before work on the plant can begin because we recently established that the land where the investors want to build their plant belongs to the water regulatory authority,’’ he said.
“As Masvingo RDC, we finished our part when we gave Great Zimbabwe Power Company permission to start work and we hope the project will kick off soon once the investors have reached an agreement with Zinwa.
Great Zimbabwe Power Company initially applied to the Masvingo RDC for one hectare of land at Lake Mutirikwi to build their power plant, but the firm has since been directed to forward the application to Zinwa, which owns the land.
Power produced at the plant will be fed into the national grid and is expected to ease electricity shortages in Masvi- ngo.
The project will be done in phases and will take up to two years to complete.
This will be the second plant in Masvingo, with a similar project being planned at Tokwe-Mukosi Dam in Chivi South to generate about 15 megawatts.