Zim pins improved electricity hopes on La Nina effect

By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE has pinned improved power generation hopes on the impending La Niña effect which is expected to bring more precipitation in the 2024/24 rainfall season.

The Southern African nation, just like many of its regional counterparts , has endured an excruciating drought which  has left the Kariba Dam, a main hydro electricity generation powerhouse, incapacitated to feed the national grid.

To this end power cuts ranging between eight to twelve hours a day have become the norm.

Secretary for Energy and Power Development Gloria Magombo  this week expressed hopes in the expected weather pattern and also shared the activities which the power utility is working on.

 “We are aware of the current challenges regarding power supply in the country, and we have a number of programs which have been put in place to ensure that these challenges are addressed over time,” she said.

Despite these setbacks, she expressed optimism adding, “From the latest projection done through the Environment Ministry and the Meteorological Department, there is going to be a La Niña effect.

“La Niña is usually the opposite of El Niño, where we expect more rain.

“More rains to us means that there will be more precipitation and inflows into Lake Kariba, which will then allow us to increase our generation capacity,” she said.

The Secretariat highlighted that to tackle the power supply challenges, the government was taking proactive steps to boost electricity generation through various initiatives.

“Programs have already been initiated through the utility where Hwange 7 and 8 units were commissioned, and that one is operating giving us 600 Megawatts.

“We also have Stage 1 and 2, which has the capacity to do 900 MW but is only doing 400 Megawatts.

“There’s a program to do what we refer to as the repowering of these units,” Magombo stated adding that:

“Unit 2 was done and brought back, it’s not fully repowered, but at least we had enough time to do most of the major repairs and it has been consistently giving us over 100 megawatts.

“There is also refurbishing of existing units and the introduction of new generation capacity from independent power producers.”

As part of a broader strategy, the government is set to launch an energy efficiency program aimed at encouraging consumers to use electricity more judiciously.

“When we are in a supply situation like this one, where we do have capacity but we can’t use it because of a drought, we also need within us as consumers to start using that energy efficiently,” she said.

Magombo said new projects from independent power producers, including a 23-megawatt plant in Nyabira and a 35-megawatt facility by Zimplats, are set to further bolster the energy supply.