News / Regional
Zambezi River Authority invites bids for Batoka power station
18 Oct 2012 at 04:30hrs | Views
The Zambezi River Authority will soon call for expression of interest for the development of a 1 600-megawatt hydropower station at the Batoka Gorge on the Zambezi River, an official said on Monday. ZRA is a corporation jointly and equally owned by the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe to operate and maintain the Kariba Dam.
It was established in 1987 as a successor to the Central African Power Corporation, which had formerly managed power generation and transmission from the Kariba Dam.
Its other functions include investigating the desirability of constructing new dam sites on the Zambezi River, constructing, operating, monitoring and maintaining any other dams on the Zambezi River.
It is also responsible for collecting, accumulating and processing hydrological and environmental data of the Zambezi. Zimbabwe and Zambia recently signed an agreement to jointly construct the 1 650MW Batoka hydropower plant, which is expected to cost at least US$4 billion.
Energy and Power Development director Ms Ndomupeyi Chikonye told a visiting South African business delegation in the capital that the call for expression of interest would enable the authority to go to the tendering stage.
"The Zambezi River Authority will any time from now call for the expression of interest to develop the Batoka hydropower station and this will enable the authority to go to the next level," she said.
"This will also assist in seeing whether potential investors will respond to tender when it is out and to see if they can qualify to embark on the project."
Ms Chikonye said issues that were stalling progress on the project had been resolved. The Zimbabwe Government has since paid US$15 million towards the US$70 million it owes Zambia for the sale of Capco assets when it was dissolved in 1963.
Plans for the project were initially mooted in 1993, but the Zambian government was reluctant because of the outstanding debt, which it wanted Zimbabwe to clear first. The proposed Batoka power project site is located below the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River and once completed would boost power supply in the two countries. Zimbabwe is facing acute power shortages with power utility Zesa producing two-thirds of the national requirement.
It was established in 1987 as a successor to the Central African Power Corporation, which had formerly managed power generation and transmission from the Kariba Dam.
Its other functions include investigating the desirability of constructing new dam sites on the Zambezi River, constructing, operating, monitoring and maintaining any other dams on the Zambezi River.
It is also responsible for collecting, accumulating and processing hydrological and environmental data of the Zambezi. Zimbabwe and Zambia recently signed an agreement to jointly construct the 1 650MW Batoka hydropower plant, which is expected to cost at least US$4 billion.
Energy and Power Development director Ms Ndomupeyi Chikonye told a visiting South African business delegation in the capital that the call for expression of interest would enable the authority to go to the tendering stage.
"The Zambezi River Authority will any time from now call for the expression of interest to develop the Batoka hydropower station and this will enable the authority to go to the next level," she said.
"This will also assist in seeing whether potential investors will respond to tender when it is out and to see if they can qualify to embark on the project."
Ms Chikonye said issues that were stalling progress on the project had been resolved. The Zimbabwe Government has since paid US$15 million towards the US$70 million it owes Zambia for the sale of Capco assets when it was dissolved in 1963.
Plans for the project were initially mooted in 1993, but the Zambian government was reluctant because of the outstanding debt, which it wanted Zimbabwe to clear first. The proposed Batoka power project site is located below the Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River and once completed would boost power supply in the two countries. Zimbabwe is facing acute power shortages with power utility Zesa producing two-thirds of the national requirement.
Source - New Ziana.
