The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), a unit of ZESA Holdings, is facing challenges in procuring spare parts and equipment to repair ageing machinery due to high costs from manufacturers and a lack of funds.
Responding to inquiries from members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy on a tour of Hwange Power Station last Wednesday, ZPC general manager, Shepherd Mukundu said (via Chronicle):
I think we have two major challenges with the proprietary equipment that comes from the original equipment manufacturer.
It’s a patented technology, not commercialised and it’s protected by patents of those designing equipment and is not off the shelf.
So, you will find that in the power generation industry, most of the major spares are better in terms of performance and if you need them you have to go back to the original manufacturer and that has been the trend.
One of our biggest challenges with proprietary equipment is that it becomes very expensive. You have no alternative so they charge you an arm and a leg and lately, that has been the trend.
ZPC is reportedly collecting between US$50 million and US$55 million in revenue, which is not enough to service its debts as well as operational costs.
The company also collects around ZiG300 million and spends between US$20-25 million per month on imports to augment the increasing power demand.
Zimbabwe is currently generating about 1 600MW against a peak demand of 2 200MW.
To reduce the cost of electricity equipment, the government suspended duty on power equipment including critical spares and transformers imported by ZESA Holdings subsidiaries.
The two-year suspension, which was announced under Statutory Instrument 93 of 2024 cited as Customs and Excise (Suspension) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (No. 272) published in the Government Gazette is set to benefit ZESA Enterprise (ZENT), Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) and ZPC.
The Hwange Power Station, which is generating over 50% of locally produced power, is operating below capacity with six out of eight units not working efficiently due to incessant breakdowns.
Most of the equipment at the coal-fired power station is over 35 years old and yet the design lifespan of a power plant is 25 years.
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