The period under review saw Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) experiencing depressed generation at the thermal stations due to numerous forced outages. A total of 2,258.79GWh were sent out in the 3rd quarter of the year, thereby missing the target which was set at 2,444.02GWh by 7.58%. However, for the period January to September 2022, ZPC managed to send out 6,727.82GWh surpassing the target set at 6,621.62GWh by 1.60%.
The small thermals produced a total of 41.47GWh of energy, falling 29.09% short of the quarterly target of 58.48GWh. This was due to low plant availability and coal stock outs, which resulted in generation loss.
During the quarter, Kariba South Power Station had 7 units available for peak generation, and as a such, the station exceeded its quarterly target by 9.17%. The hydro power station’s output for the quarter under review was 2.53% higher than the output in the same period last year. This was due to an increase in water allocation by Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) from 15 billion cubic meters in 2021 to 22.5 billion cubic meters in 2022. Kariba Power Station consumed 20.4Bm3 for power generation as of the end of Q3 2022, compared to a target of 17.4Bm3, leaving the station with 2.1Bm3 of generation capacity for the remainder of the year.
ZPC secured US$310 million from the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India to rehabilitate Hwange Power Station. The rehabilitation of the ageing thermal power plant shall be done in three phases and we are projecting that the work on the refurbishment will begin in the third quarter of 2023.
The Deka Upgradation Project is 71.2% complete and on track to be completed by March 31, 2023. The pipes have been laid in the order of thickness for the entire 42km. Since then, pipe welding has begun.
The Hwange Expansion Project Unit 7 is expected to be synchronised to the grid by the end of this year.