Zimbabwe Ring fences 100 Megawatts For Winter Wheat

Owen Kaura

Zimbabwe has set aside 100 megawatts of power to ensure a smooth 2021 winter wheat farming season.

Energy and Power Development Minister Zhemu Soda told ZTN that the US$100 million debt Zesa owes to Mozambique’s Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) is being settled.

“As we speak our internal power generation is around 1 350 megawatts that should suffice for winter wheat production,” he said.

“Let me also allay fears that farmers may be having to do with power that we normally import from Eskom and HCB. We don’t owe Eskom and there are plans to extinguish all those that we owe,” he added.

There were fears that an increase in power demand during winter could lead to constrained supply.

Zimbabwe is currently generating an average of 1 300 megawatts daily with Kariba hydroelectric power station and Hwange thermal power station being the largest producers.

The southern African country imports an average of 400 megawatts from South Africa and Mozambique to narrow the electricity deficit during the winter season.