News / National
More blackouts for Zimbabweans
04 Jul 2019 at 22:11hrs | Views
As the cold front is about to reach its peak many Zimbabweans will relatively fill the pinch due to the erratic power cuts.
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) is still battling to secure sustainable electricity for the nation regardless of the partial $10 million debt payment to Eskom of South Africa which provides ZESA with 50 Megawatts(MW) of power.
The minister of Energy and Power Development, Mr. Fortune Chasi recently revealed the partial debt payment to the public, beforehand, Eskom had denied receiving payment, however, Mr.Chasi also said that "the payment does not guarantee power" which means Zimbabweans will have to bear once more with the devastating power cuts.
ZESA is now relatively left with an external debt of $70 million which it's owing Eskom and Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) of Mozambique which it needs to settle in order to get 450MW from both the power utilities.
However, Mr Fullard Gwasirai ZESA's spokesperson, as well as Mr.Chasi, pinned the electricity crisis on the outstanding arrears of consumers which they pegged at $350 million.
Regardless, Eskom said that "discussions will continue with ZESA to find a mutually beneficial solution to the outstanding debt. Eskom is a commercial operation and will be guided by the contracts we have in place with ZESA."
ZESA expects to expand it's Hwange thermal power station from it's current 327MW to 600MW and repowering the power stations in Harare and Bulawayo which are expected to produce 120MW and 90MW respectively by 2022.
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) is still battling to secure sustainable electricity for the nation regardless of the partial $10 million debt payment to Eskom of South Africa which provides ZESA with 50 Megawatts(MW) of power.
The minister of Energy and Power Development, Mr. Fortune Chasi recently revealed the partial debt payment to the public, beforehand, Eskom had denied receiving payment, however, Mr.Chasi also said that "the payment does not guarantee power" which means Zimbabweans will have to bear once more with the devastating power cuts.
However, Mr Fullard Gwasirai ZESA's spokesperson, as well as Mr.Chasi, pinned the electricity crisis on the outstanding arrears of consumers which they pegged at $350 million.
Regardless, Eskom said that "discussions will continue with ZESA to find a mutually beneficial solution to the outstanding debt. Eskom is a commercial operation and will be guided by the contracts we have in place with ZESA."
ZESA expects to expand it's Hwange thermal power station from it's current 327MW to 600MW and repowering the power stations in Harare and Bulawayo which are expected to produce 120MW and 90MW respectively by 2022.
Source - Daniel Itai
