The Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (ZEWU) has called for full disclosure from ZESA Holdings regarding its ongoing discussions with Indian firm Jindal Africa Investments, reported <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/local-news/article/200038579/union-demands-transparency-in-zesas-us350m-power-deal">The Independent</a>.
The discussions centre around a joint venture between Jindal and ZESA to refurbish six units at Hwange Thermal Power Station for US$350 million, a project expected to add around 400 megawatts (MW) to the national grid.
In a letter dated February 13, 2025, addressed to Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) managing director Norbert Matarutse, ZEWU general secretary Martin Chikuni expressed concerns about the secrecy surrounding the deal and the lack of transparency regarding the activities at Hwange Thermal Power Station. He wrote:
<blockquote>
We are reliably informed, by our members, that your management is at an advanced stage in negotiations with some company or individual from India, for the partial or total takeover of Hwange Thermal Power Station.
There is no doubt that such a development will invariably have a negative impact on the workers’ welfare and conditions of service yet they were never consulted or participated, through their union in the decision, despite their inalienable right to be involved and participate in any decision.
If this is indeed true, we find your approach to be inconsiderate, disrespectful and reckless to the almost 700 employees working at Hwange as well as their families whose livelihoods rely entirely on their breadwinners currently employed by ZPC, at Hwange.
</blockquote>
ZPC, a division of ZESA, is responsible for electricity generation.
Chikuni called for an urgent meeting with ZPC management to address the issue, warning that if their request was ignored, they would “pursue all available legal options within the next five working days.”
In response, ZESA Holdings said that the discussions are still in the early stages, awaiting cabinet approval, and therefore cannot be disclosed as finalised. It added:
<blockquote>
However, when Jindal came with its expression of interest they brought their top management who engaged with the power station management and worker representatives.
Management is fully aware of the need to engage workers once there is a clear direction on the expression of interest.
</blockquote>

Pindula News

Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union wants ZESA to tell us everything about a $350 million deal with Indian company Jindal to fix Hwange Power Station. They say workers and their families should be consulted as their jobs are at stake. ZEWU demanded a meeting with ZESA to talk about the deal, threatening legal action if ignored. ZESA said the talks are early and need approval before details can be shared. They promised to involve workers when a decision is made. The union and ZESA are still discussing to make sure workers' interests are protected.

Union Demands Full Disclosure On US$350 Million Hwange Power Station Deal

Hwange Thermal Power Station’s Unit 7 first achieved a full capacity output of 335MW at 9:27 AM on Thursday 30th March 2023.
The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) managed to synchronise the first of two generators on Unit 7 into the national grid on Monday, 20 March after failing to do so several times.
The two generators make up the Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 Expansion Project being installed under a US$1.4 billion facility from China Eximbank.
Soon after the successful synchronisation of Unit 7 into the national grid, ZPC said power will be progressively fed into the grid until it reaches 300MW.
However, captains of industry said Unit 7 will not meaningfully end the current electricity challenges bedeviling the economy.
Zimbabwe has a national electricity peak demand of between 1 700 and 2 200 depending on the season.
On 31 March 2023, ZPC was generating a total of 678MW, with Hwange producing 311, Kariba, 350, and Munyati 17. Harare and Bulawayo were generating zero.
More: <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200009522/ed-demands-re-run-in-violence-hotspots">Pindula News</a>

Hwange Unit 7 Achieves 335MW Full Capacity Output

Captains of industry say the successful synchronisation of Hwange Thermal Power Station’s Unit 7 with a generation capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) with the national grid will not meaningfully end the current electricity challenges bedeviling the economy.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Kurai Matsheza on Wednesday told <a href="https://businesstimes.co.zw/hwange-deal-wont-rid-zim-of-power-crisis/">Business Times</a> that the hope is that the new unit will operate at full capacity consistently. Said Matsheza:
<blockquote>
We hope that it will be on the grid on a sustainable basis and hopefully, it will operate at the capacity of 300MW and if that stands a test of time, this will assist industry and other sectors of the economy though it will not eliminate the power challenges completely.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Mike Kamungeremu said the development is welcome. He said:
<blockquote>
We hope that Unit 8 will come soon and that will be commendable. We hope that may result in load shedding hours reduced as right now it is not sustainable for businesses to run for hours as the cost is too huge resulting in some firms closing.
All the same, we are happy with the development, though we need more power.
</blockquote>
<h2>Hwange Unit 7</h2>
Unit 7 was successfully synchronised with the national grid and started feeding electricity on Monday, 20 March.
The synchronisation sought to establish if the electricity being generated from Unit 7 would flow into the national grid.
The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) said that power from Unit 7 will be progressively fed into the grid until it reaches 300MW.
ZPC said it expects the second 300MW thermal unit (unit 8) to start generating power in October.
<h2>Depressed Power Generation</h2>
According to power generation statistics, ZESA ‘s five power stations in Kariba, Hwange, Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare on Wednesday collectively produced 361MW against a national demand of 1 800MW.
Hwange Thermal Power Station has the capacity to generate 1 220MW, while Kariba South Hydroelectric Power Plant has the capacity to generate 1 050MW.
On Friday, 24 March, Hwange was generating 530MW, Kariba, 350MW, and Munyati, 18MW to give a total of 898MW. Harare and Bulawayo were not generating anything.
<h2>ZESA Loadshedding, Debts</h2>
To cover for the shortfall, ZESA is load-shedding consumers as well as importing from South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia.
A <a href="https://www.263chat.com/zambia-to-switch-off-zim-over-power-supply-debt/">recent report</a> claimed that Zambia’s power utility ZESCO Limited was set to disconnect supply to Zimbabwe on 14 March over non-payment of US$10.7 million debt for the month of February and March.
ZETDC commercial service director Gift Ndhlovu was recently quoted as saying the overall debt to regional suppliers has increased to over US$100.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Hwange Unit 7 Will Not End Zimbabwe's Power Crisis

The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) late on Monday said the new 300 megawatts (MW) generating unit at Hwange Thermal Power Station started feeding electricity into the national grid.
Zimbabwe is expanding the 920MW Hwange power station by adding two 300MW units (7 &amp; 8) at a cost of US$1.4 billion, with 85% of the funding coming from China, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/zimbabwes-new-300-mw-coal-fired-plant-starts-feeding-into-grid-2023-03-21/">reported Reuters</a>.
Unit 7, the first of the two units built by China’s Sinohydro, was successfully synchronised into the national grid on Monday evening. A short statement released by ZPC yesterday reads:
<blockquote>
The Hwange Expansion Project’s Unit 7 was successfully synchronised today at 1826hrs.
Power will be progressively fed into the grid until it reaches 300MW.
</blockquote>
The ZPC has said it expects the second 300MW thermal unit (unit 8) to start generating power in October.
On Tuesday, 21 March, ZPC was generating a paltry 522MW from two out of five power stations.
Hwange and Kariba were generating 323MW and 199MW respectively, while Munyati, Bulawayo, and Harare were producing zero.
Zimbabwe requires 1 700MW in Summer to end load shedding.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Hwange Unit 7 Power Generation Set For Gradual Increase To 300MW Capacity - ZESA

The process synchronising the Hwange Expansion Project’s Unit 7 into the national grid will start on Monday.
In a statement issued on Saturday, 18 March, the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings, said:
<blockquote>
On Monday the 20th of March 2023, ZPC will begin the process of synchronising the Hwange Expansion Project’s Unit 7 into the national grid.
</blockquote>
The synchronisation of Hwange units 7 and 8 to the grid is expected to add a cumulative 600MW.
Electricity generation has been depressed for months resulting in massive unscheduled power cuts across the country.
On Friday, 17 March 2023, Kariba power station was generating 241MW, Hwange, 315MW, and Harare, 11MW, giving a total of 567MW.
ZESA is importing 100MW from Zambia’s ZESCO, 50MW from HCB Mozambique of Mozambique, and 100MW from Eskom of South Africa.
Zimbabwe needs between 1 500 MW and 1 700MW of electricity for load shedding to end.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Synchronisation Of Hwange Unit 7 Into National Grid Commences On 20 March - ZPC

Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda has said the commissioning of two new units at Hwange Thermal Power Plant, that is units 7 and 8, “is complex”.
This comes amid indications that the state-owned power utility, ZESA Holdings, has missed several deadlines to commission the units and ease load shedding in the country.
Speaking to <a href="https://www.businessweekly.co.zw/power-outages-ease-supply-not-guaranteed/">Business Weekly</a> last week, Soda said the synchronisation of Unit 7 for it to come on board was “almost complete.” He said:
<blockquote>
A lot of processes are involved; these include testing the performance compliance levels at various production levels.
You need to understand the behaviour of the plant; say when it is producing 100 MW, or 200MW.
So even when we switch them on, we still have to do all those processes and when that is done, we can then start producing at a commercial scale.
</blockquote>
Soda said the COVID-19 pandemic also delayed the commissioning of units 7 and 8 as technicians from China could not travel to Zimbabwe.
He added that Sino Hydro, the company contracted to build 7 &amp; 8 had subcontracted ABB to conduct testing of the protection system but due to the resurgence of the pandemic late last year, the technicians failed to travel to Zimbabwe.
When the technicians eventually arrived, it took time for them to understand the system and they also needed to be reinforced by a team from South Africa.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

"Commissioning Of Hwange Units 7 & 8 Complex"

ZESA Holdings is currently unable to avail a load-shedding timetable due to the unreliability of Hwange Power Station which is now very old and constantly breaks down.
This was said by Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda on Wednesday in the National Assembly while responding to lawmakers who wanted to know why the power utility had stopped issuing load-shedding schedules. Soda said:
<blockquote>
At the moment, it’s very difficult to come up with a schedule because we have unplanned power outages at Hwange due to its age.
We cannot plan well based on the capacity of Hwange. We have unplanned outages that are occurring from Hwange.
In the morning today, we were obtaining a capacity of 387 megawatts, and you will be surprised that it can go down to 100 megawatts.
Of the four units that are currently in service, some would have gone out of service. So the power station is not reliable at the moment because of age.
We will soon be availing a load-shedding schedule after the coming in of unit seven and unit eight.
If there is going to be any deficit after the two units come in, then ZESA will have to give a load-shedding schedule.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwe’s largest power plant is the Kariba South Bank Hydro, with an installed capacity of 1 050MW followed by Hwange Thermal Power Station with an installed 920MW capacity.
By Thursday afternoon, the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) was yet to post the power generation statistics on its website.
But the previous day, Wednesday, 08 March, Hwange was generating 401MW, Kariba was producing 253MW and Harare was on 12MW, giving a total of 666MW.
The other two power stations, Munyati and Bulawayo were producing zero.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

"Load Shedding Timetable Impossible", Soda Cites Constant Breakdowns At Hwange

The breakdown of five out of six units at the Hwange Thermal Power Plant has compounded existing electricity challenges Zimbabwe is facing with some customers enduring power cuts lasting more than 24 hours.
The country’s power utility, ZESA Holdings, is expected to bring online two new units at the Hwange Thermal Power Plant in the coming weeks to add 600MW to the national grid.
However, due to constant breakdowns at Zimbabwe’s largest coal-fired power station, which has seen output falling to less than 9 percent of its designed capacity of 920MW in recent days, there is little hope that units 7 and 8 will change anything.
An energy expert, Gerald Tasara, told <a href="https://www.businessweekly.co.zw/will-hwange-7-and-8-make-big-difference/">Business Weekly</a> that the new units will not make any big difference in terms of the national power supply. He said:
<blockquote>
Ideally Units 7 and 8 should be adding 600 MW to the exiting capacity but the problem is the frequency of breakdown of the existing plant.
Most of the units have already reached the end of their life span.
What will be churned out by the two units will be effectively replacing the current capacity and this won’t make any big difference in terms of delivering additional energy onto the national grid. 
This won’t make any big difference in terms of the national power supply. 
However, we can take comfort from the dependability or reliability of the new units as this may stabilise the power supply situation.
</blockquote>
The new units were scheduled to start operation in November last year, but both are still offline.
The Hwange Power Station comprises six units, four are 120MW units commissioned between 1983 and 1986 and the other two are 220MW units commissioned in 1987.
All six units have outlived their life spans by at least eight years.
A ZESA official was recently quoted as saying the plant is now 38 years old and its designed life is 30 years.
Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda said that the Hwange Power Station will be decommissioned after commissioning Units 7 and 8. 
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

"Hwange Units 7 And 8 Will Not Make A Big Difference"

The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) says it is at various stages of repairing four units at Hwange Power Station after a series of breakdowns in recent days.
The breakdowns at the thermal power plant, which is the country’s second-biggest plant, literally plunged the country deeper into darkness as it is now operating at just 10 percent of its 920 megawatts capacity.
According to a general supply summary report produced by ZPC, between February 15 and 23 this year, four units at the Hwange thermal power plant were switched off, leaving the plant operating with one.
ZESA spokesperson George Manyaya promised to provide comment to <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/zpc-attends-to-faults-at-hwange-power-plant/">The Herald</a> after “getting a status update from the technical team” on Tuesday, but he had not done so by the time of publishing.
According to ZPC, a unit of ZESA Holdings responsible for generating electricity, Unit 4 was switched off on 15 February after developing a boiler tube leak.
Unit 1 was taken off on February 24 after a high-pressure fan got damaged.
Unit 3 was stopped on February 24 after developing a tube leak while Unit 6 was switched off on February 23 after developing a similar problem.
The damaged units are at various stages of being repaired, said ZPC. Unit 5 tripped in October 2021 due to excessive turbine vibrations.
On Wednesday, 01 March 2023, Kariba hydroelectric plant was generating 280MW.
Kariba’s Unit 4 was taken out on July 20 2022 due to a damaged turbine runner.
Generator 1 was switched off on February 2 2023 for turbine runner inspection. The inspections have been completed and the unit has been placed on annual maintenance.
Unit 8 tripped on 20 December 2022 due to GTx 8 fault and is being replaced.
Unit 6 was taken out on December 16 2022 for an annual overhaul and machine cooling water pipework replacement. Kariba dam level has slightly improved to 13,75 percent.
Meanwhile, Hwange was generating only 72MW this Wednesday while the small power stations, Munyati and Bulawayo are currently switched off for boiler maintenance.
Zimbabwe is importing 50MW from Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa; 180MW from Eskom, between 130-200MW from Electricidade de Moçambique and 1 00MW from Zambia’s state-owned power utility ZESCO.
The country is exporting up to 80MW to Namibia.

Several Units At Hwange Power Station Break Down

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, Gloria Magombo on Tuesday said the commissioning of two new units at Hwange Thermal Power Station will take time.
These two new units will add 600MW to the national grid, but it may not happen soon.
Addressing the media after a Cabinet meeting in Harare yesterday, Magombo said:
<blockquote>
Commissioning of a plant is not an event, it’s a process. When we talk about commissioning Hwange 7, each part has to be commissioned independently and certified as working 100%, before they move on to the next one.
If there’s something not working properly, they have to stop, look at it, and correct it. As they do that, they look at the critical path in terms of when they can put that unit on the grid.
</blockquote>
She said the other part of commissioning is the construction of transmission power lines including a 400km line from Hwange to Bulawayo’s Insukamini sub-station.
Watch the video below for more:
<div>
<video controls="controls" height="356" preload="metadata" width="640"><a href="https://t792ae.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Gloria-Magombo.mp4">https://t792ae.c2.acecdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Gloria-Magombo.mp4</a></video></div>
Meanwhile, On Tuesday, the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) was generating only 494MW from its five power stations located in Bulawayo, Munyati, Harare, Hwange and Kariba.
On the same day, Zimbabwe was importing 50MW from Mozambique’s HCB, up to 169MW from ESKOM, 100MW from Zambia’s ZESCO, and 10MW from EDM in Mozambique.
Magombo said the country has agreed with EDM to increase supplies to 50MW, while there is an agreement for a further 150MW from Mozambique. | <a href="https://newzwire.live/govts-latest-energy-update-there-is-bad-news-and-slightly-less-bad-news/">newZWire</a>

"Commissioning Of Hwange Units 7 & 8 Will Take Time"

The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) plans to invest over $500 million into the rehabilitation of the Hwange Thermal Power Station. The power utility intends to revamp units 1 to 5 in order to extend its lifespan by between 15 to 20 years.
ZPC wants to increase the power station’s output potential to 800 megawatts from the current 450 megawatts.
Hwange Thermal Power Station has a design capacity of 920MW but is currently producing an average of 450MW to 500MW due to ageing equipment.
However, ZESA has not yet been able to raise the required amount. According to minutes of a recent board meeting, only $310 million has been raised of the required $510 million. The $310 million has been committed by an Indian bank.
Part of the minutes of the board meeting reads as follows,
<blockquote>The board inquired on the progress on the $310 million loans from India for the Hwange Power Station life extension project. Management in response advised the meeting that there were some limitations as the loan was not adequate to refurbish all the five units, which required about $510 million.
Management was advised to make sure that they come up with recommendations that would see the project being undertaken in 2019.</blockquote>
<h3>More: <a href="https://www.sundaymail.co.zw/zpc-to-spend-500m-on-hwange" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Sunday Mail</a></h3>

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