The Mutapa Investment Fund (MIF) has approved a US$350 million joint venture between Indian firm Jindal Africa Investments and Zimbabwe’s state-owned power utility ZESA Holdings. The purpose of this partnership is to refurbish six units at the Hwange Thermal Power Station.
The refurbishment of the ageing power plant is expected to add approximately 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity generation capacity to Zimbabwe’s national grid.
In a recent interview with the Zimbabwe Independent, MIF’s Chief Executive Officer John Mangudya said the deal will be structured under a rehabilitate, operate, and transfer framework.
This means the partners will refurbish the power units, operate them for a period, and then eventually transfer the assets back to ZESA Holdings.
The joint venture aims to upgrade and revitalise the Hwange Thermal Power Station, which is a critical component of Zimbabwe’s electricity infrastructure. Said Mangudya:
Regarding developments at Hwange Thermal Power Station, the Mutapa Investment Fund board has approved the partnership between ZESA and Jindal Africa Investments for the refurbishment of Hwange units 1 to 6 on a rehabilitate, operate and transfer basis.
This investment, which constitutes a public-private partnership arrangement, will enhance the supply of electricity into the grid by around 400MW to 840MW from the rehabilitation of these six units.
This initiative will add electricity to the grid by around 400MW. The estimated cost of this project is around US$350 million.
In August 2023, President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially commissioned two new power generation units at the Hwange Thermal Power Station.
The new units, designated as Units 7 and 8, were constructed by the Chinese engineering firm Sinohydro at a total cost of US$1.5 billion.
The addition of these two new units has added 600 megawatts (MW) of electricity generation capacity to Zimbabwe’s national power grid.
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