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Walter Nyamukondiwa-Kariba Bureau

THE extended load-shedding seen in recent days will end today as two units at Hwange, which have been down due to faults, have been restored to service.

Load-shedding was required, at modest levels, to cope with the rising demand. 

The increased load-shedding seen in the last few days was a result of the 110MW Unit 3 and the 210MW Unit 6 coming off the grid.

In an interview in Kariba, Energy and Power Development permanent secretary Dr Gloria Magombo said the two units had been restored to service and will now feed power into the national grid.

“We had lost two units at Hwange Power Station and I am happy that I got an update that production has been restored. The situation has to improve to our normal levels by the weekend. 

“First to be restored was Unit 6 on Wednesday and I got an update that Unit 3 has also been restored,” she said.

Dr Magombo hailed engineers who worked round the clock to ensure that the two units were restored to normal service. 

She said the power supply situation would significantly improve by November when production begins at Hwange with the completion of Unit 7 generating 300MW and then early next year Unit 8 coming on stream with another 300MW.

Zimbabwe has a power deficit growing everyday with industrial expansion and housing developments. This is being offset by imports from the region.

Continual additions to the generating capacity are needed even after the Hwange Extension, with solar increasingly seen as a useful addition, especially in the short term, while rehabilitating the older six units at Hwange is also essential.