Harare, 28 September: The Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Commission (ZERC) said on Thursday that the country needs a total of 837m US dollars for the refurbishment and expansion of its three power stations to run them at full capacity.
ZERC Commissioner-General Mavis Chidzonga said Hwange Power Station Extension project alone required 600m US dollars, while Hwange Power Station refurbishment needed 37m US dollars and Kariba South extension 200m US dollars.
“We have various companies that have shown interest in the electricity supply industry, for example CATIC, a Chinese company, is interested in Hwange Power Station expansion and coal mining, while a consortium of investors from South Africa is interested in investing in Kariba Power Station and Gokwe,” said Chidzonga.
She said other companies that are interested in investing in the electricity industry include FARAB, an Iranian company, adding that a memorandums of understanding had been signed and feasibility studies undertaken following various investment meetings in China, Namibia, South Africa and other countries this year.
In addition, she said the country requires a lot of investment to make up for the 35 per cent of electricity that is being imported and the five per cent being saved from load shedding.
In view of this, the commission was investigating the possibility of scaling up investments in renewable energy sources as the country had the third largest deposits of methane gas in the world and its solar power also had immense potential, she said.
Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0844 gmt 28 Sep 06