A new 42km, 962mm pipeline to supply water to the Hwange Power Station was commissioned on Monday, August 6.
Hwange Power Station, Zimbabwe’s largest coal-fired plant, draws raw water from the Zambezi River for electricity generation and cooling.
The $48.1 million construction of the pipeline was funded through an Exim Bank of India credit line.
The pipeline will provide water for the expanded Hwange Power Station, including the new Units 7 and 8, as well as the local Deka community.
The Deka Upgrade Project, which began on October 1, 2021, was officially launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa at a ground-breaking ceremony in March 2022.
The new pipeline runs parallel to the existing one used by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to supply the power station and Hwange community, with three offtakes along the way.
The project was handed over to the Zimbabwean government through the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) by an Indian government delegation led by Shri Puneet Kundal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, and Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Vijay Khanduja.
Speaking at the handover and commissioning ceremony, Energy and Power Development Minister Edgar Moyo said:
The Deka upgrading project is contributing towards the generation of 600MW more power at the Hwange Power Station through the Unit 7 and 8 Expansion Project.
This project was implemented at a cost of US$48.1 million having been availed through cooperation between the Governments of Zimbabwe and India via the Indian Exim Bank.
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