Maravi

(HERALD) Power cuts till December

Power cuts till December
Herald Reporter

Major power cuts are expected across Zimba-bwe until December following the reduction of generation at Kariba Power Station for the annual maintenance exercise that began last Friday. Kariba will be churning out 650 megawatts, down from 750 MW.

Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira yesterday said the maintenance work was supposed to be done earlier this year but was deferred due to poor performance at Hwange Power Station that made it impossible to reduce Kariba’s output.

He said the power utility was looking at the possibility of imports from regional suppliers to cover its customers.

The imports will augment supplies from Hwa-nge and Munyati thermal power stations.

"Kariba undergoes statutory maintenance every year and this was supposed to be done in April but was deferred as a result of poor performance at Hwange.

"The work has now resumed because generation of power at Hwange has improved and we have recently fired Munyati Power Station, which is generating 40 megawatts.

"The maintenance work is expected to run up until before Christmas. Our internal supply will be depressed during the period and, obviously, load-shedding will increase outside the normal schedule," he said.

Mr Gwasira said two generators, with a generating capacity of more than 200MW, will be switched on at regular intervals during servicing to allow continued electricity supplies to the nation.

Mr Gwasira said Kariba had three generators that supplied two transformers that feed into the national grid.

He said electricity consumers would be advised as and when the power utility would switch off the transformers to avoid inconveniences.

Meanwhile, Zesa Holdings has failed to comply with the Competition and Tariff Commission’s order to use proper meter readings instead of estimates when billing its customers.

A survey by The Herald showed that most Zesa customers last month received estimated bills.

Mr Gwasira yesterday refused to comment on the issue, saying it was a process that could not be accomplished overnight.

The parastatal’s customers have often complained that the estimated bills were far above their consumption.

Many consumers have not regularly paid their electricity bills since the formalisation of foreign currency transactions in February last year.

Labels: ENERGY, HYDRO POWER, KARIBA DAM

posted by MrK @ 11:39 PM