Thermal power project first phase 80 percent complete

THE first phase of the construction of a 320MW Thermal Power Station by Zimbabwe Zhongxin Electrical Energy (ZZEE) in Hwange is now 80 percent complete.

The project is among the major capital investments in Matabeleland North province, which have suffered a setback following the outbreak of Covid-19. The project, which is being rolled out in phases, will see the first stage commissioning a 50MW power plant in December this year. This will be closely followed by two 135MW units that are set to be brought online in July 2021.

The boiler unit is almost done with the assembling of the second turbine in progress while installation of pipes and valves for the first set of the completed turbine is underway.

ZZEE chairman, Mr Liu Jianshen, said in a recent interview that the first phase of the project was now 80 percent complete.

“Covid-19 has seriously affected progress as we had envisaged to have completed the first unit by now. The pandemic affected the production of equipment and some of our workers involved in the project are locked up in China,” he said.

Mr Liu said the company had since engaged Government to assist the locked up workers to return to the country.

Several projects including the Zimbabwe Power Company Units 7 and 8 expansion were adversely affected by the outbreak of Covid-19, which forced countries to enforce lockdowns as part of measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. Critical equipment for some of the projects is manufactured in China which was also hard hit by the pandemic and some of the Chinese workers involved in the projects are locked up in that country due to travel restrictions.

Meanwhile, Mr Liu has expressed concern over delays in signing the Public Private Agreement (PPA), which he said was affecting their project funding guarantees.

“We are concerned about delays by Government to sign the PPA, which has not been attended to since the time we began operations here last year. This is a cause for concern as it is affecting our prospects for funding guarantees,” he said.

Mr Liu urged Government to expedite the process so that funds are released on time to enable the company to meet its set deadlines.

Energy and Power Development Minister, Soda Zhemu, who recently visited the power station pledged to engage his finance counterpart, Professor Mthuli Ncube, to ensure the PPA issue was addressed.

Zimbabwe is implementing several energy projects that are expected to produce not just enough to meet the country’s demand but also surplus for export.-chronicle