Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, has said that the local power utility, ZESA, is now accessing 300 Megawatts during off-peak hours.
Meanwhile, Acting Minister of Energy and Power Development Minister, Dr Sekai Nzenza, said that South Africa power utility, ESKOM, had agreed to Zimbabwe’s payment plan, a development that will likely increase volumes of electricity the company is exporting to Zimbabwe.
The Ministers were appraising reporters on the 27th Cabinet decision matrix in Harare on Tuesday. Mutsvangwa said:
Modalities to operationalise the above resolutions are being worked out. Furthermore, ZESA is now accessing 300MW during off-peak hours. This additional power is availed through the Southern African Power Pool Day Ahead Market under a US$2 million facility which was mobilised by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company from its own resources. This additional power has reduced the duration of load shedding in most areas.
The Minister added that once loose ends in negotiations with ESKOM were tied, the deal expected to result in 400 MW being added to the grid will be made public.
In resonance with Mutsvangwa’s remarks, Labor Minister, Nzenza said:
We can report that ZETDC has engaged local bank to the tune of a $15 million guarantee to unlock supply of 400MW from Eskom. At the same time, ZETDC, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Eskom have also agreed on a payment plan so that these initiatives that have been put into place will enable us to have more power.
More: The Herald