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Newly-licensed independent power producer Co-Ash Resources has started work on its 1 000-megawatt power plant in Hwange, Matabeleland South Province by embarking on an Environmental Impact Assessment programme.

The firm, which was licensed late last year, intends to generate power using waste coal from the Hwange area.

It will use the plasma fired gasification technology, which involves conversion of organic matter into electricity.

It is a globally-accepted form of waste management which is already being

used in developed countries such as the United Kingdom and France to generate power.

In a notice for an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, the company said it intended to use waste coal fines that pose an environmental hazard in the Hwange area.

“Co-Ash Resources (Pvt) Ltd intends to establish a 250 megawatts IGCC thermal power plant in the Hwange area expanding to 1 gigawatt (1 000 megawatts) over the next 10 years,” it said.

“The main objective of the project is to construct a combined cycle, environmentally friendly, highly efficient advanced plasma fired thermal power plant that will supply (a) significant amount of power to the nation of Zimbabwe.”

The company said as part of the EIA, a public consultation process is also being done.

Zimbabwe is experiencing a power

deficit and this has been identified as

one of the top priority areas for the Government in its bid to resuscitate the

economy.

The Government, through the Zimbabwe Power Company, has embarked on several projects to bridge the energy deficit such as expanding existing power stations and building new ones. – New Ziana.