At a time when Zimbabwe is losing millions in potential revenue due to power outages, Minister of Energy, Edgar Moyo, has revealed that the crisis is expected to escalate with alarming statistics on power generation showing that the country spent more than allocated.
A recent survey by the Chamber of Mines indicated that miners have lost US$500 million of potential revenue due to power outages in 2024.
Speaking in Parliament during question and answer session on Wednesday, Moyo said Lake Kariba’s water levels had significantly decreased, leaving only 1 billion cubic liters of water, enough to generate 100 megawatts until the end of the year 1.
The government’s decision to generate up to 500 megawatts from Kariba to meet high demand has reduced water levels, impacting power generation.
The Minister further stated that breakdowns at Hwange Stages 1 and 2 have reduced power generation from 420 megawatts to 260 megawatts.
“Currently, at Hwange 7 and 8, we are running at full throttle and generating 640 megawatts. At Hwange Stages 1 and 2, during winter, we were at peak for that capacity at 420 megawatts.
“Now, we are doing 260 megawatts and as a result of the breakdown of other units, we are now generating power using just three units,” Moyo said.
“In Kariba during that time, we were able to do up to 300 megawatts but now we are only able to do 100 megawatts which arithmetically means that we are now generating less power than we had during winter.
“We were allocated 8.4 billion cubic metres of water for Lake Kariba for use this year but as a result of the need to balance power with activities that are happening in the country, at some point we had to get from Kariba up to 500 megawatts to make up for enhanced or high demand for power.
“That has significantly reduced the water levels and we are now left with about 1 billion cubic litres of water which can generate 100 megawatts up to the end of the year. This means that we have a huge reduction in Lake Kariba and in Stages 1 and 2 in Hwange because of the breakdown of the old generators.”
In December last year, the World Bank indicated that Zimbabwe desperately needed stable and reliable electricity access in order to achieve upper-middle-income status by 2030.
The international financial institution said Zimbabwe’s power shortages were a significant economic burden, costing a whopping 6.1% of its GDP annually.
The loss comprised 2.3% due to inefficiencies in generation and excessive network losses, and a further 3.8% from the downstream costs of unreliable energy.
Victor Steenbergen, Senior Country Economist for the World Bank in Zimbabwe, said, “The electricity deficits have been weighing on the economy, particularly in mining, by reducing the margins of existing operations and on the feasibility evaluations for expansions and new projects.
“The shortages also affect the agriculture and agro-processing sectors by undermining irrigation, cold chain, and storage facilities. Tourism is also affected by the disruption of essential services. These effects translate into lower economic growth and household incomes.”
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