Zimbabwe power firm hamstrung

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s state-run electricity provider is battling a serious financial crunch and a widening supply shortfall which has let to increasing power cuts, a state daily reported Wednesday.

The acting chairman of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Christopher Chetsanga said the utility had run up a 105-billion-Zimbabwe-dollar (US$420 million) debt which he blamed on low tariffs. “The electricity bills customers are paying are sub-economic,” Chetsanga was quoted by The Herald newspaper as saying.”It costs 90 Zimbabwe dollars to produce a kilowatt and the same kilowatt is sold for five dollars.””The utility imports power at two US cents per kilowatt and sells at 0,2 cents per kilowatt, meaning Zimbabwe provides the cheapest electricity in the region.Government is being engaged with a view to finding a solution to this matter which is killing our financial base.”Power supplies are becoming increasingly erratic in Zimbabwe, which is in the throes of a meltdown with four-digit inflation and shortages of foreign currency and basic commodities.Families in cities are turning to firewood for cooking and heating because of outages.Chetsanga said suppliers from nearby countries had only offered 150 megawatts to ZESA instead of the 600 megawatts it had requested, adding: “That is what is also leading ZESA to go into load-shedding.”The southern African nation imports 40 per cent of its power needs – 100 megawatts a month – from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 200 megawatts from Mozambique and up to 450 and 300 megawatts from South Africa and Zambia respectively.Chetsanga said ZESA had not succeeded in raising US$30 million for repairs at four of its six generators at Hwange power station which broke down last year.Nampa-AFP”The electricity bills customers are paying are sub-economic,” Chetsanga was quoted by The Herald newspaper as saying.”It costs 90 Zimbabwe dollars to produce a kilowatt and the same kilowatt is sold for five dollars.””The utility imports power at two US cents per kilowatt and sells at 0,2 cents per kilowatt, meaning Zimbabwe provides the cheapest electricity in the region.Government is being engaged with a view to finding a solution to this matter which is killing our financial base.”Power supplies are becoming increasingly erratic in Zimbabwe, which is in the throes of a meltdown with four-digit inflation and shortages of foreign currency and basic commodities.Families in cities are turning to firewood for cooking and heating because of outages.Chetsanga said suppliers from nearby countries had only offered 150 megawatts to ZESA instead of the 600 megawatts it had requested, adding: “That is what is also leading ZESA to go into load-shedding.”The southern African nation imports 40 per cent of its power needs – 100 megawatts a month – from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 200 megawatts from Mozambique and up to 450 and 300 megawatts from South Africa and Zambia respectively.Chetsanga said ZESA had not succeeded in raising US$30 million for repairs at four of its six generators at Hwange power station which broke down last year.Nampa-AFP