ZESA Holdings has mobilised US$12 million to boost electricity imports from the Southern African Power Pool in a strategic move aimed at cushioning consumers against power shortages during the festive season.
This comes as the power utility embarks on a critical 35-day maintenance programme on Unit 8 at Hwange Thermal Power Station, to be followed by similar work on its sister Unit 7.
The planned maintenance, which begins this week, is essential for the long-term reliability of the nation’s flagship power generation assets, but will temporarily remove a significant chunk of capacity from the grid.
To bridge the gap, ZESA is deploying a multi-pronged strategy involving regional imports and optimised local generation.
Addressing the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power Development in Hwange on Saturday, ZESA Holdings acting chief executive officer, Engineer Cletus Nyachowe, outlined measures designed to shield consumers from heightened load-shedding.
“We have put together a fund, some US$12 million, and we will use this for the Southern African Power Pool,” said Engineer Nyachowe.
“So, this Power Pool energy is traded, and we will be buying energy on the day-ahead market. So, it is like a stock exchange. You bid for energy that you want tomorrow, and when you get it, you pay.”
This approach allows ZESA to dynamically purchase power based on daily and weekly forecasts, providing a flexible buffer against domestic generation shortfalls.
The focus of the current maintenance — Hwange Units 7 and 8 — is not ordinary generators.
Commissioned in 2023, the two 300-megawatt units have been the workhorses of Zimbabwe’s electricity supply, forming the bedrock of the national grid and providing more than 50 percent of baseload power, which is more reliable than hydro-generation, susceptible to droughts.
A Class C maintenance is a major overhaul involving comprehensive inspection, repair, and replacement of key components to restore the unit to its original design performance and ensure continued operational integrity.
Failure to carry out such maintenance could lead to prolonged, catastrophic outages, experts warn.
Unit 8 is the first to undergo this intensive process, which begins this week and is scheduled to last 35 days, said engineers.
Upon completion, Unit 7 will be taken offline for its own Class C maintenance, with sequential scheduling designed to minimise the impact on national supply.
Beyond the US$12 million for imports, Engineer Nyachowe said other strategies have been put in place to reduce load-shedding.
A key tactic has been the prudent management of water at Kariba South Hydro Power Station.
“To manage our water consumption in Kariba, we get allocated — this year it was 14 billion cubic meters,” he said.
“So, we followed the consumption pattern, which then saved water for us to boost production in Kariba.
“So, that will improve our production and reduce the level of load-shedding during this period.”
Furthermore, Engineer Nyachowe acknowledged the financial strain caused by the domestic tariff structure and said measures are being implemented to protect household consumers.
He expressed confidence that a strengthening local currency would aid ZESA’s ability to procure foreign currency for critical imports and maintenance.
Echoing these sentiments, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) acting managing director, Engineer Fannie Mavhondo, provided a technical outlook, projecting a net positive balance during the maintenance period.
“We will be generating an additional 120 megawatts in the days that the two units — Unit 8 and Unit 7—will be out and up to the end of the year,” said Engineer Mavhondo.
He clarified that the timing of the outages was strategic, coinciding with the traditional dip in demand over the Christmas holiday as industries wind down.
This reduced demand, combined with the extra 120MW from other optimisations, is expected to create a cushion.
“That 120 plus 100 will take us to 200MW — the additional we anticipate should enable us to balance off,” he said, indicating that the utility expects to manage the grid without a significant increase in power cuts.
While the immediate focus is on navigating the Hwange maintenance, ZESA’s leadership stressed that these are stopgap measures.
The ultimate solution to Zimbabwe’s power crisis lies in expanding generation capacity.
“But ultimately, the solution is to improve our energy security. We need to have a larger fleet of generation assets. So, this is where we are talking about the new assets — Units 9, 10, 11, and 12 — and then, of course, a solar power station,” he said.
The new units at Hwange, once fully operational, are expected to add a transformative 600MW to the grid, while planned solar projects will diversify the energy mix and enhance resilience.