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Herald Reporter

CONSTRUCTIOn of the Hwange 7 and 8 Thermal Power Station that will add an additional 600MW generating capacity to the national grid is now 82 percent complete, Zesa Holdings deputy chair Ms Tsitsi Makova said yesterday.

Speaking at the Zesa 2021 risk management awards ceremony held at their national training centre running under the theme, “Powering the nation to 2030 through Risk Management”, she said: “Progress at Hwange 7 and 8 thermal power project is now 82 percent complete, although delays in procurement of imported materials due to Covid-19 induced restrictions affected some of the targeted works.

“The completion of the project will add an additional 600MW to the national grid which will go a long way in contributing to the national economic recovery.”

Ms Makova said the additional 600MW would also allow Zesa to take older units offline for scheduled maintenance, thereby reducing the risk of plant failure,” she said.

“It is our desire as a group to become self-sufficient and narrow the demand-supply gap, minimise power imports and conserve foreign currency.”

Turning to the awards, Ms Makova said their main purpose was to recognise chosen stations with outstanding performance within the ZESA group that excelled in good risk management practices during the year 2021.

“I feel elated by the long standing symbiotic relationship between ZESA and the sponsor, Cell Insurance Company in terms of not only the provision of insurance covers for both human and capital assets of the power utility against various forms of loss, but also in the area of executing checks and balances to ensure that identified risks are mitigated,” she said.

Cell Group chief executive Dr Ish Makuzwa said the ZESA risk management awards ceremony was suspended last year at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The ultimate goal of the risk competitions is to cultivate a risk management culture within ZESA operations and processes,” he said.