ZPC urges industry to work at night
August 12, 2012 in Business
By Kudzai Chimhangwa
THE Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has urged the manufacturing industry to
take advantage of the excess power available at night after peak power
demand hours for production.
Speaking at a media briefing last week ZPC chairman Richard Maasdorp said
industry must take advantage of the abundant electricity available during
the night to produce goods and commodities without disruptions.
“This will go a long way towards saving the energy available and providing
industry with the electrical power they need,” he said.
Manufacturing companies have for long bemoaned the incessant power cuts
saying they were disruptive to their business.
Speaking at the same event ZPC general manager for projects, Engineer
Washington Mareya said the company had embarked on expansion projects for
the Hwange and Kariba South Extension un
its in a bid to meet current and future electricity demand.
However, funding has proved to be a major hurdle as investment has not been
forthcoming.
Mareya said Zimbabwe faced an acute power shortage which dates back to the
year 1992 when the country began facing a net power deficit.
“The situation worsened in the year 2007 when the Southern African Power
Pool also began facing a net energy deficit,” he said.
“Because our demand far outstrips our generation capacity, it is imperative
that we embark on an aggressive generation expansion drive in order to meet
demand.”
The projects are being implemented in four phases namely review phase,
engineering phase, construction and commissioning phase and the warranty
phase.
Hwange 7 and 8 units are expected to be upgraded to 600 MegaWatts (MW) at a
cost of US$1,83 billion while the Kariba South 7 and 8 units would be
upgraded to 300MW at a cost of US$771 million.
However, funding has continued to be a major stumbling block towards the
timely completion of projects.
Mareya said that the mini-hydro power plants would be prioritised under
public-private partnerships.
These include the Gairezi to produce 30MW at US$90 million, Mutirikwi to
produce 5MW at US$10 million and Manyuchi to produce 1,4MW at US$3 million.
The review phase which involved feasibility studies was completed as at June
2011 while the engineering phase started concurrently with part of phase 1.
“Evaluation of tender documents is in progress and selection of suitable
contractors is expected to be finalised in October 2012. Contract
negotiations are expected to be concluded in December 2012 to January 2013,”
he said.
The construction and commissioning phase is expected to begin around mid-
2013 and is projected to take three and half to four years.
The World Bank recently recommended that government launches an electrical
power demand-side management programme designed to encourage consumers to
use less energy during peak hours.
The bank also encouraged users to move the time of energy use to off-peak
times such as nights and weekends.
The energy crisis has negatively affected the country’s hopes for a
sustained economic growth, as load shedding and high tariffs have caused
disruptions to productivity in the manufacturing and mining sectors.
Thermals at most of the power stations in the country are more than 40 years
old while the last power station ever put up in the country was in the
1980s.