Foundries relieved by increased power generation

THE increased energy generation at the country’s power stations has brought relief to the foundries sector with players saying the uninterrupted power is assisting in cutting operational costs and helping to improve the quality and competitiveness of their products.

Zimbabwe has grappled with acute power shortages in the past years, which was crippling production across various sectors of the economy while the use of generators as an alternative source of energy was said to be very expensive.

The country has recently witnessed a great improvement in power output, mainly at Kariba Hydro-Power Station and Hwange Thermal Power Station, which continue to anchor domestic supplies.

Hydro Power Station

Before the expansion project, Hwange Power Station had an installed capacity of 920MW and the addition of 600MW from Units 7 and 8 will take the installed capacity to 1 520MW.

Kariba Power Station has already been expanded resulting in the addition of 300MW into the grid to take the installed capacity to 1 050MW, which, given adequate water levels, will generate adequate electricity to meet industrial and domestic demand.

In an interview, Zimbabwe Institute of Foundries (ZIF) chief operations officer Mr Dosman Mangisi said power is the most critical element in the value addition and beneficiation of metals.

As such a consistent supply of power will contribute to the growth of the sector as the cost of doing business will be highly reduced resulting in increased capacity utilisation.

“Consistent supply of power will bring down the cost of doing business as there are more production hours and no more use of generators which are expensive to run. We realised at one foundry that they were using 200 litres of fuel per day just to supplement an induction furnace and they were producing below capacity,” said Mangisi.

He said the company was spending about US$14 000 a month on diesel alone which it is now saving because of guaranteed power supply.

“The increased power supply is commendable and we appreciate what Govenment is doing to reduce cost of production,” he said.

Foundries produce metal castings and offer casting-related services.

In every country, the foundry sector plays a critical role as it does not just produce metal products for engine, railroad, or pipe components but also produces components for machines that are required to make many of the essential consumer products.

Mr Dosman Mangisi

The sector has the potential to feed into the turnaround of the Zimbabwean economy and other African countries’ economies due to the availability of raw materials including base metals and human resources.

The country’s economy is on a rebound due to various policies initiated by the Government that have seen growth in the mining and agricultural sectors. This has resulted in increased demand for power hence the projects being implemented to boost power generation.

The US$1,4 billion Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 expansion project is one of the Second Republic’s signature projects that has significantly improved power generation.

The continued improvement in power generation will see the country meeting its demand for power thereby saving a lot of foreign currency being spent on importing electricity.-chronicle