Zimbabwe: Govt Unveils Strategy to Address Zimbabwe's Incessant Power Outages

THE government has unveiled a response to the country's ongoing power supply challenges, which have been worsened by the El Niño-induced drought.

Secretary for Energy and Power Development Gloria Magombo after giving oral evidence to the Energy and Power Development Parliamentary Committee recently said this strategic plan aims to leverage renewable energy sources to stabilize the national grid.

Zimbabwe is facing a severe El Niño-induced drought that's worsened the country's power supply challenges affecting water level at the Kariba Dam, a key source of power.

This has resulted in a loss of nearly 800 megawatts from Kariba, with the average supply currently at around 200 megawatts due to reduced water levels.

Magombo highlighted that El Niño-induced drought had led to significant reductions in electricity generation, particularly from the Kariba Dam, which has historically been a key source of power for the nation.

"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.

Additionally, she indicated that 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.

The government is also taking proactive steps to address the growing electricity shortage in the country and meet global demands to transition away from fossil fuels and to achieve this, the government is exploring ways to increase power generation from diverse energy sources, focusing on solar, wind, hydro, and innovative solutions.

This article was originally published by New Zimbabwe.