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Zimbabwe will start operating a new unit at its only coal-fired power plant at Hwange by March, Deputy Energy Minister Magna Mudyiwa said on Wednesday. This is set to provide relief to millions of citizens rocked by frequent power outages in recent months.
The new unit at the Hwange power plant will lift the country’s capacity by more than 14% to 2400 megawatts. The next unit is expected to be commissioned soon after, Magna Mudyiwa said, without giving a timeline.
Mudyiwa added that the country has been generating 1000MW against the 1700MW demand.
“We have the capacity to generate up to 2100 megawatts (MW)from our power sources but at the moment we’re generating far less than that..about 1000MW,” Mudyiwa told Reuters.
“But our demand for electricity is about 1700MW so we have a serious deficit,” she said.
Deficient rainfall has led to a decline in hydropower generation, while the efficiency Hwange power utility has dipped sharply over time while power demand has surged in recent years due to higher mining and agricultural activity.
The International Monetary Fund counts electricity shortages as one of the major factors weighing on Zimbabwe’s growth prospects.
The current power deficit in the country has led the government to rely on power imports from neighbouring countries like Zambia and Mozambique.
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