The Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 expansion programme is now at 88 per cent, the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has said.
The two units are expected to fully come online by March 2023 and will add around 600MW of power to the national grid when fully operational.
In a statement, ZESA Holdings’ power generating subsidiary, ZPC, said it has started test runs for the main units. It said:
The USD$1.5 billion Hwange Unit 7 and 8 expansion project which is set to boost the national power grid by 600MW is progressing well, with the construction status now at 88 per cent.
Commissioning of auxiliaries for the Hwange stage 3 plant is now in progress, with the commissioning works for the water treatment plant – a key component in the thermal generation process, expected to be completed in July this year.
Other commissioning works expected to begin in the coming weeks include the boiler auxiliary, as well as back feed energisation — a process which supplies power to run the auxiliaries until the start-up of the main units.
The commissioning of the various plant auxiliaries is a prerequisite to the running of the main units which are expected to be in full operation in March next year.