News / Local
Bulawayo set to start generating electricity in February
29 Jan 2011 at 17:11hrs | Views
THE Bulawayo Thermal Power Station will start generating power in February, a development set to bring excitement to the city, popularly known as Kontuthu ziyathunqa because of the smoke emitted by the towers.
The power station stopped generating power in 2000 owing to operational challenges. In an interview on Thursday ZESA spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira could not be drawn to reveal how much power would be generated from the plant.
"I can confirm that generation will commence this quarter, thereby contributing to the national output.
"We hope to start generating electricity mid-February 2011 if all goes according to plan," said Mr Gwasira.
He said at the moment preparatory work to refurbish the power station was in progress hence could not confirm when the plant could generate power.
"The activities that are currently taking place at Bulawayo Power Station are test runs of equipment in preparation for the anticipated generation," said Mr Gwasira.
The revival of Bulawayo's power generation comes after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Zimbabwe and Botswana in October last year.
The MoU was such that Botswana would inject US$9 million, while Zimbabwe supplied 45 megawatts of power for three years in return.
At the moment the country produces 1 200 megawatts instead of a peak demand of 2 200 megawatts. Mr Gwasira said the only way to close this demand-supply gap was to build extra generation capacity, which would take at least three and-a-half years from the time funding has been secured.
The power station stopped generating power in 2000 owing to operational challenges. In an interview on Thursday ZESA spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira could not be drawn to reveal how much power would be generated from the plant.
"I can confirm that generation will commence this quarter, thereby contributing to the national output.
"We hope to start generating electricity mid-February 2011 if all goes according to plan," said Mr Gwasira.
He said at the moment preparatory work to refurbish the power station was in progress hence could not confirm when the plant could generate power.
"The activities that are currently taking place at Bulawayo Power Station are test runs of equipment in preparation for the anticipated generation," said Mr Gwasira.
The revival of Bulawayo's power generation comes after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Zimbabwe and Botswana in October last year.
The MoU was such that Botswana would inject US$9 million, while Zimbabwe supplied 45 megawatts of power for three years in return.
At the moment the country produces 1 200 megawatts instead of a peak demand of 2 200 megawatts. Mr Gwasira said the only way to close this demand-supply gap was to build extra generation capacity, which would take at least three and-a-half years from the time funding has been secured.
Source - Byo24NEWS
