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OpenZESA Owes US$350 Million For Kariba Power Station Renovations
ZESA Holdings (ZESA) owes US$350 million for renovations at the Kariba South Power Station, which it has been unable to service due to the long-standing subsidised tariff regime, reported NewsDay.
Currently, Kariba South has a capacity of 1,050 megawatts (MW) but is only generating 185 MW due to depleted water levels at Lake Kariba.
This was revealed by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power Development in an update on the current state of electricity supply in Zimbabwe. It said:
According to ZESA Holdings, they possess a huge loan burden in renovating some of the units at Kariba, South which amounts to US$350 million.
ZESA created a huge debt burden on the utility, including foreign currency commitments for loan repayments and spare parts purchases.
Management added that repayments need to be done in foreign currency, and they have resorted to exporting power in order to generate foreign currency.
The committee urged the Treasury to disburse funds promptly for servicing loans related to power projects, to address Zimbabwe’s long-standing debt servicing challenges, improve the country’s creditworthiness, and facilitate access to affordable energy financing.
ZESA’s foreign currency obligations are preventing the power utility from servicing even the Hwange Thermal Power Station.
The committee highlighted that Zimbabwe continues to experience severe power outages as the distribution supply fails to meet the nation’s growing demand.
The committee also revealed that Zimbabwe Power Company, a subsidiary of ZESA, has been forced to import power from neighbouring countries to alleviate load-shedding.
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