ENGINEERS have started synchronising various sub-systems at the Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 plant which is 97 percent complete and ready for commissioning in November, paving way for its connection to the national grid.
The plant will start generating power on a trial run for
some time until engineers are satisfied that it will not disturb the grid.
Unit 7 is a component of the US$1,4 billion Hwange Unit 7
and 8 expansion project whose construction began in August 2018 following a
ground-breaking ceremony by President Mnangagwa.
Overall, both units are 93 percent complete, with Unit 8
set for commissioning early next year.
The project scope entails addition of the two units with a
combined capacity of 600MW to the national grid.
It is one of the flagship projects being implemented under
the Second Republic in line with Vision 2030, which aims to transform Zimbabwe
into an upper middle-income economy.
When fully commissioned, the project will help Zimbabwe
tame electricity imports and ease power cuts, which will drive increased
industrial production with guaranteed electricity, a key economic enabler and
driver towards realisation of national goals in line with Vision 2030.
While the whole project missed timelines by almost a year
due to the effects of Covid-19 which stopped operations for some time, project
engineers yesterday said the targeted November commissioning will be met as
most of the work has been done with focus now on trial runs and commissioning
of various internal components.
However, the 300MW to be generated by Unit 7 will be fed
into the grid in phases, project manager Engineer Forbes Chanakira said.
The Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial
Affairs, Richard Moyo, during a tour of the expansion project at Hwange Power
Station yesterday. (Pictures by KB Mpofu)
Updating Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs and
Devolution Minister Richard Moyo during a tour of the project yesterday, Eng
Chanakira said:
“By and large we are almost there in terms of completing
the project. We are above 93 percent complete for both units and Unit 7 alone
is at 97 percent despite the delays of more than a year largely because of
Covid-19 and delays in payment.
“We are hoping that with the coming in of Unit 7 at the end
of this year, we will be able to address power challenges,” said Eng Chanakira.
He said all the enabling projects such as the Deka water
pipeline and transmission lines have made significant progress.
Eng Chanakira said synchronisation of the coal plant, ash
plant, boiler, turbines and other components including the control room is
underway.
He said the boiler, which is responsible for producing steam
that is required to produce energy to turn the turbines that generate
electricity will be started up soon.
ZPC section engineer turbines, Engineer Lucia Chibanda
takes Minister Richard Moyo through the interior of Unit 7 plant (Pictures by
Leonard Ncube)
“When we finish the commissioning process of all the sub
systems, we will then want to test how the unit will behave when all the
systems have been brought together. So we need to be able to synchronise which
we should be able to do before the end of November.
“We should be able to load and burn the coal and turn the
generator and produce a little bit of power to see how it is performing. We
will not at this stage synchronise so that we can supply power to the grid, but
we will be optimising the system so that we are sure that the unit will be able
to reliably supply power to the national grid. So, for now we are doing steam
clearing for Unit 7 which is the last process before commissioning,” added Eng
Chakanira.
Some sections of Unit 7 have been barricaded as testing of
components has commenced and some areas are already live with electricity,
while the control room is already being used to monitor and control operations.
The control tower is already running with about 9,6 cubic
metres of water, which is equivalent to 200 by 200 litre-drums running through
the fill material in the tower per second, according to engineers.
Minister Moyo said completion of the project is a testimony
that the country will attain an upper middle income status before the targeted
2030.
“As Matabeleland North we are happy about this project
which is expected to transform the nation’s power. This is one of the national
flagship projects and will increase gross domestic product and better the lives
of people through employment and power availability.
“We are excited that they have started testing the plant
for commissioning in November. Although we are one year behind, we will beat
the November target of commissioning Unit 7,” said Minister Moyo.
The project is a joint venture between Sino Hydro Mauritius
and the Zimbabwe Power Company through a company called Hwange Electricity
Supply Company.
The project has employed 4 600 locals to date. Chronicle
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