Energy and Power Development Minister, Edgar Moyo, has said the planned refurbishment of Hwange Power Station’s Unit 5 is expected to add 160 MW to the national grid, providing a much-needed boost to the country’s power supplies in the short to medium term.
Delivering a Ministerial Statement on the electricity situation in Parliament last week, Moyo also highlighted the planned re-powering of Units 1 to 6, which is expected to be completed within 48 to 60 months.
This initiative is anticipated to eventually restore the capacity of these units to at least 840 MW. Said Moyo:
Furthermore, the allocation of resources to Hwange Units 1 to 4 and 6, in order to minimise plant downtime on failure, will further alleviate the electricity shortages.
With these developments, prioritising resources for the power station’s key production-related issues is indeed a viable short-term solution.
The re-powering of Units 1 to 6 in 48 to 60 months in the short term will eventually restore the station’s capacity to at least 840MW, which should significantly curtail load shedding and stabilise the power supply for the country.
Units 1, 3, 4, and 6 at the Hwange Power Station are currently generating a combined output of 380 MW.
Meanwhile, Unit 2 is undergoing statutory maintenance and is expected to be back in service this month.
Unit 5 is currently undergoing a major overhaul, which is anticipated to be completed by May 2025.
The recently commissioned Units 7 and 8, which came online in 2023, are operating stably and generating a total of 614 MW.
The construction of the new Units 7 and 8 was financed through $1.4 billion in loans obtained from Chinese lenders.
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