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. . . firm seeks national project status for plant

George Maponga recently at  TUGWI-MUKOSI DAM
Tokwe-Mukosi (Pvt Ltd), the company which was licensed to construct a 15-megawatt mini-hydro power plant at Tugwi-Mukosi Dam in southern Masvingo has applied to Government for the project to be granted national project status.

The development comes as the firm, which is a consortium comprising Sino-Hydro of China and some indigenous companies, is currently completing feasibility studies with actual construction work on the plant set to start in October.

It is estimated that the project will cost US$20 million and is part of part of several projects being rolled out by independent power producers licensed by Government as the country seeks to be self-reliant in power in line with President Mnangagwa’s vision to propel Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy by 2030.

Speaking on the sidelines of a tour of the power plant site at Tugwi-Mukosi by members of the technical inter-ministerial task force on the dam, Secretary for Energy and Power Development Dr Gloria Magombo said all the loose ends of the project will be tied over the next six months.

Dr Magombo said the power plant should be up and running one and half years later.

“The power plant will be completed after about 25 months from now, with the next six months really involving completion of feasibility studies and the contractor finalising a power purchase agreement with ZETDC (Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company),” she said.

“The company (Tokwe-Mukosi [Pvt] Ltd) has applied for national project status and we are currently working on their application, which will enable them to get tax exemptions on some of the materials they will import for their project.”

Work on the plant, she said, will start after completing the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract.

“We hope that within the next six months, the company would have reached financial closure on the project after which actual construction will start around October,’’ said Dr Magombo.

She said the good thing about the Tugwi-Mukosi power project was that it its development involved a firm (Sino-Hydro), with previous experience in building such plants in Zimbabwe.

Sino-Hydro was the contractor in the Kariba South extension project which saw units 7 and 8 being added on the power station.

Building a power plant at Tugwi-Mukosi was identified by Government as one of the 14 anchor projects earmarked for in and around the dam.

The project is a low-hanging fruit which does not need a master plan for the work to start, hence the push by Government for construction to immediately start.