Firms engage ZESA

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

Several  companies are in negotiations  with power utility ZESA   to secure dedicated power lines    that are exempt  from  the devastating  blackouts in order to boost production, Business Times can report.

It comes at a time electricity consumers are enduring unsheduled load-shedding  that lasts for over 16 hours every  day   as a result of low  output at Kariba South Hydroelectric Power Station and Hwange Power Station, the country’s largest coal-fired power plant. For  the past few months, smaller power plants in Bulawayo, Munyati, and Harare have not generated electricity.

Consequently, ZESA, is producing about a 1 000 megawatts (MW) against a national demand of 1 800MW.

Captains of industry said the situation was dire.

“Unavailable electricity is worse than expensive electricity whereby one runs generators to keep producing. That way we are eating into our revenues hence we need a dedicated power supply at the rate the power utility would want us  to pay,” Delta CEO, Matts Valela said.

According to him, solar power is not used in heavy industries because it varies with the sun’s setting, which could harm different machines because they are susceptible to power outages.

“There is a need to buy big batteries to avoid power fluctuations therefore we would rather wait and see how the solar technology is progressing then down the road we can use it if we find it viable.

“Even industrialised countries do not use solar for industrial use,”  Valela  said.

Stanley Muchenje, managing director of African Distillers (AfDIS), weighed in saying  businesses in the Stapleford area were also advocating for dedicated power lines.

However, Muchenje pointed out that ZESA was taking its time to approve them.

“We are pushing for a dedicated  power line to supply AfDIS, Windmill, Seed Co and Solar Farm among others with uninterrupted power. We have been engaging  the power utility even to help to do repairs but ZESA remains silent,” Muchenje said.

Furthermore,  BETA Holdings is engaging  ZETDC (a power distribution unit  of ZESA) to connect its aggregate  stone crusher plant  in Shamva to a dedicated power line that is not subject to load shedding.

Godfrey Manhambara, CEO of BETA Holdings, stated that load shedding is having an impact on business at their plant because the company is connected to an ordinary  line that supplies neighboring farms and villages.

“We are only working during the night because there will be no power during the day. ZETDC is now working on identifying a line that is less affected by load shedding and I hope this will happen very soon. We are happy with the progress made so far, ” Manhambara recently said.

This week, Mike Kamungeremu, president of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, told Business Times that the country’s ongoing electricity crisis is compelling businesses to use costly diesel generators as backup power.

“With this prolonged load shedding, production is disrupted and there is a likelihood of serious shortages of our local products on the shelves.

“Some companies are using generators and the cost is double the charge of using electricity hence this pushes up the cost of production. At the end of the day, businesses are left with no option but to pass the costs to the final consumers,” Kamungeremu  said.