News / National
ZESA warns of massive load shedding
09 May 2019 at 11:57hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has issued a warning that it will be increasing power cuts to manage it supply, a local online paper CITE has reported.
The report said ZESA received low rainfall during the 2018/19 rainy season that saw the reduction of water levels at Lake Kariba.
The power utility was quoted saying, "Electricity generation at Kariba Power Station will thus be reduced to an average of 358MW from the planned average of 542MW as a direct result of this water allocation reduction and this has led to a power supply gap."
Zesa since asked electricity users to switch off all non-essential electrical gadgets to save power and to reduce power usage during peak periods from 5 am to 10 am and 5 pm to 10 pm.
Power cuts would hit the mining sector, which contributes more than two-thirds of Zimbabwe's export earnings, hardest, adding to difficulties in a country already grappling with a lack of U.S. dollars, soaring prices and shortages of fuel, food and medicines.
The utility said generation at Hwange, its biggest coal-fired station, as well as three smaller plants remained fragile due to the age of the facilities.
The report said ZESA received low rainfall during the 2018/19 rainy season that saw the reduction of water levels at Lake Kariba.
The power utility was quoted saying, "Electricity generation at Kariba Power Station will thus be reduced to an average of 358MW from the planned average of 542MW as a direct result of this water allocation reduction and this has led to a power supply gap."
Zesa since asked electricity users to switch off all non-essential electrical gadgets to save power and to reduce power usage during peak periods from 5 am to 10 am and 5 pm to 10 pm.
Power cuts would hit the mining sector, which contributes more than two-thirds of Zimbabwe's export earnings, hardest, adding to difficulties in a country already grappling with a lack of U.S. dollars, soaring prices and shortages of fuel, food and medicines.
The utility said generation at Hwange, its biggest coal-fired station, as well as three smaller plants remained fragile due to the age of the facilities.
Source - Byo24News
