Hydro power station to be built at Lake Mutirikwi

An independent power producer will build a hydro power station at Lake Mutirikwi in Masvingo, the chief executive officer of Masvingo Rural District Council, Mr Clemence Makwarimba, has said. He said the plant would generate five megawatts of power.

The local authority has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Great Zimbabwe Hydro who will develop the plant.

"We have signed a MoU with Great Zimbabwe Hydro and this deal will see a hydro power plant being established at Mutirikwi dam. As local authority, we have also made available land covering one hectare for the project.

"We have taken this move as a way to address power deficit presently affecting the province and country at large.

"The plant will produce 5MW which upon completion would be fed into the national power grid," said Mr Makwarimba.

He said there were a number of companies that had expressed interest in investing in power generation adding that the local authority was willing to engage  them.

"We have various water bodies which can be utilised for the same purpose. We have Muzhwi dam in Mashava. We are willing to engage all those who want to invest in power generation. We are still receiving inquiries from investors who are interested in power generation and we are very willing to work with them," he said.

The Government has liberalised the electricity sector and licensed several independent power  producers who will set up power generation plants to ease the electricity shortage in the country. The electricity would be fed onto the national grid.

However, none of the independent power producers have started producing electricity.