Zimbabwe Turns to Mozambique, Zambia to Ease 12-Hour Power Cuts
Zimbabwe Turns to Mozambique, Zambia to Ease 12-Hour Power Cuts
Zimbabwe asked Mozambique and Zambia to supply it with more electricity as it tries to fill a power shortfall that’s led to outages of 12 hours a day.
“We are in discussions with Mozambique for the recently commissioned power plants to give us an additional 180 megawatts,” Energy Minister Soda Zhemu told lawmakers Wednesday, according to a transcript on parliament’s website. “We are also at final stage of discussion with Zambia to get an additional 100 megawatts.”
The current electricity cuts were because of rehabilitation work at the Kariba South hydropower plant, constraints at its coal-fired Hwange plant and limited power imports, according to the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority.
A total of 1,276 megawatts was being produced by plants in the country on Thursday, according to data from the state-owned power company. Demand is at 1,700 megawatts. The two neighboring countries currently supply Zimbabwe with as much as 170 megawatts of electricity.
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