ZESA ordered to stop exports to Namibia

We cant import power to export to Namibia when Hwange power station is not producing, Mudzuri said. In 2007, ZESA entered a deal with the Namibian utility NamPower, in which it provided a US$40m loan to refurbish Hwange power station. In return, ZESA was supposed to supply electricity to Namibia. But Mudzuri said Hwange power station was not able to generate electricity for export to Namibia, resulting in the country buying power for NamPower. That deal was for Hwange only and it must not affect the entire operations of the country. It can only be implemented if Hwange is properly running. I have ordered ZESA not to supply electricity to Namibia until Hwange is running, said Mudzuri, adding that the deal that ZESA and Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) entered into would be confined to Bulawayo power station only. Last year BPC agreed to inject US$8m to revive the mothballed Bulawayo thermal power station, which has not produced electricity for nearly a decade. BPC will receive electricity from the Bulawayo thermal station. If Bulawayo is not generating power, we cannot have electricity from elsewhere being exported to Botswana, said Mudzuri. He said it would take up to five years for the country to be able to generate enough electricity for itself. That can be shorter, but electricity might be expensive, said Mudzuri. Our plants are old and have outlived their lifespan, most of them. That means they become expensive to use since they are no longer efficient. ZESAs inability over the years to boost generation capacity at its ageing power stations and a critical shortage of foreign currency to import adequate electricity from neighbouring countries has left Zimbabwe grappling with severe power shortages. The Zimbabwean energy firm says cash-rich foreign investors remain reluctant to provide funding badly needed to boost power generation because of uncertainty about the countrys political and economic direction.