POWER utility, Zesa Holdings has started implementing load shedding that will see most suburbs across the country going for at least eight hours per day without electricity almost daily.
In a statement, the company said load shedding which kicks
off immediately has been necessitated by power shortfalls due to generation
constraints at power stations.
“The ZETDC (Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and
Distribution Company) is experiencing a power shortfall due to generation
constraints at Hwange Power Station, limited imports and a programme of dam
wall rehabilitation at Kariba, which requires that two generators be taken out
for 12 hours. The planned outrage of the two units then restricts Kariba Power
Station output during these hours.
The power shortfall is being managed through load shedding
in order to balance the power supply available and the connected load,” the
company said.
The power utility said it will try to implement shedding as
per schedules and customers were encouraged to look out for their areas of
concern for planning purposes. According to the schedule, carried elsewhere in
this publication, some suburbs will experience power cuts daily either during
the morning peak or evening peak hours.
Zesa said it was imperative to note that the programme took
cognisance and gave priority to critical supply points such as major referral
hospitals, water and sewer installations, national security establishments,
oxygen producing plants and winter wheat farmers.
“While the power utility is doing everything possible to
improve the generation capacity, customers are encouraged to use the available
power sparingly. Customers are advised to treat all electrical installations as
live as power can be restored without notice,” said Zesa.
According to Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) as on Friday the
country was generating 1196 MW of power. Kariba was at 809 MW while Hwange was
at 433 MW. Munyati, Bulawayo and Harare were at 14 MW, 18 MW and 12 MW
respectively.
However, despite intermittent power shortages, the future
is bright for Zimbabwe’s power sector with the country poised to be
self-sufficient in terms of its power requirements as a number of new projects
are taking shape. Work in the expansion of the Hwange Thermal Power Station is
at over 67 percent, with major milestones having been reached in the journey
towards providing relief and self-sufficiency in power generation in the
country. The US$1,6 billion expansion programme entails the addition of Units
seven and eight which are expected to add a combined 600KW to the national
grid.
Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda is on
record as saying the Government was also ready to source for more imports
whenever there are major faults that affect the national grid. Independent
Power Producers also continue to contribute varying amounts of electricity to
the national grid. Another 2 400MW project — Batoka — is being jointly pursued
with Zambia and is expected to take off in the next few years. Furthermore, a
number of coal and coal-bed methane projects, predominantly in Hwange, will add
up to 2000 megawatts into the national grid in the next few years. Sunday Mail
0 comments:
Post a Comment