Tinashe Makichi in Victoria Falls
Cabinet has approved an arrangement that will see exporters use the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to import electricity, a move expected to reduce the prevailing power cuts, a government official said Thursday.
ZETDC is a transmission and distribution unit of power utility, ZESA.
The arrangement comes at a time the economy is facing rolling power cuts of at least 20 hours crippling business which have to do with diesel-powered generators thereby pushing up the cost of production.
Energy and Power Development Deputy Minister Magna Mudyiwa told the CZI Annual Conference in Victoria Falls Thursday that Cabinet approved the approach to ensure consistent importation of electricity while negotiations to pay off debts from regional utilities are underway.
“Cabinet has approved an arrangement where ZETDC can ring fence large scale power consumers who generate foreign currency so that that they may access ZETDC to import power for use locally through Southern African Power Pool and the Day Ahead Market. Industry is also encouraged to work with Zesa in this endeavour,” Mudyiwa said.
“Due to the Zesa debt to HCB and Eskom, government has stepped in to negotiate with governments of these utilities and successful negotiations based on payment plans are expected to yield between 400-600MW of power.”
Mudyiwa said government is seeking an interim bridging funding package to rescue ZESA from liquidity while a tariff review is being considered. Electricity tariff has gone below 1 US cent per kilowatt-hour.
“I therefore encourage the industry and private sector to consider paying cost-reflective tariffs. Profits are good but for the utility to remain operational, it has to service its debts, procure resources and maintain equipment. I dream of a day that industry and commercial
farms pay upfront for electricity they use. Pre-payment will assist ZESA to recover the current debt and avoid it altogether in the future,” she said.
Kariba South Hydroelectric Power Station has been supplying the cheapest electricity in the country at a cost of $0,02 per kilowatt hour (kWh). Thermal power stations Hwange, Munyati, Bulawayo and Harare, produce electricity at a cost of between $0,08 per kWh and
$0,16 per kWh. Kariba has reduced its output to just less than 500MW from about 1050MW due to dwindling water levels.
The crippling load shedding is mainly attributed to a reduction in water allocation for power generation at Kariba Dam. The Zambezi River Authority was forced to reduce water supply due to a drop in water levels in the dam.
Power generation is also affected by ageing machinery at the four thermal plants, some running beyond their lifespan.
