ZESA to refurbish Byo and Hre power stations

ZESA Holdings is to refurbish Bulawayo and Harare hermal power stations to improve efficiency at the two power stations that have been operating at sub-optimal levels.

The refurbishment at Harare power station will see the replacement of boilers powering the plant with special ones that will reduce fuel costs by half, while the refurbishment at Bulawayo will see a change in the power generation technologies.

The refurbishment will improve generation at Harare power station which is not generating any electricity despite having a capacity of 100 megawatts, while Bulawayo power station is generating 22 megawatts out of a possible 90.

Presenting oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Parastatals and State Enterprises, ZESA Holdings Group CEO, Engineer Josh Chifamba said the refurbishment will be implemented soon as short term measures to improve electricity supply.

The power utility is aiming to improve power generation to 1 500 megawatts from 1 200 megawatts but old equipment is the firm's major challenge.

Commenting on the 0.3% tariff increase, Engineer Chifamba said the utility is still faced with high production costs for electricity averaging 15 cents per kilowatt hour while it charges 9.86 cents per kilowatt hour.

Imports are charged at 45 cents per kilowatt hour, thereby wiping out ZESA's profit margins.

Hwange and Kariba are the only power stations generating cost effective power at 7 cents and below 4 cents per kilowatt hour.