Vandalism cost Zesa US$24 million since 2019

POWER utility company, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), has lost critical infrastructure valued at US$24 million from 2019 to date due to vandalism, at a time when it is owed over ZWL5,7 billion by various stakeholders.

Equipment theft and vandalism have been identified as one of the biggest risks prejudicing the power utility of an estimated US$4 million annually.

The company has observed a rising trend in the vandalism and theft of copper and aluminium conductors, cables, transformer oil, pylons and transformers.

So widespread is the theft and vandalism that in 2019 the power utility acquired industrial-grade enterprise drones to curb the vice, which has been likened to economic sabotage.

The power utility has also been lobbying for stiffer, longer sentences for those convicted of infrastructure theft. For the last five years to June 2024, a total of 7 186 cases have been recorded translating to a cost of US$24,4 million, according to the utility’s records.

In a latest statement detailing the current power supply situation in the country, Zesa executive chairman, Dr Sydney Gata, said the power entity has been facing a power supply shortfall of up to 540MW during the high-demand winter period.

He said total power supply is averaging 1 310MW against a demand of 1 850MW at peak, leaving a shortfall of 540MW and the attendant load shedding.

“However, we experienced a fault at the Hwange Power Station Unit 8 last week and we had to switch it off. These are normal technical hitches that happen during the infancy of any new plants and I’m glad to notify you that our engineers have resolved this and we expect to synchronise the unit to be back online soon,” said Dr Gata.

“The utility implemented measures to increase power supply with additional imports to augment local supply and interventions to restore capacity at Hwange Power Station stages 1 & 2 that have been out due to forced outages.

“Hwange Power Station’s ongoing re-powering programme is a significant initiative aimed at enhancing the station’s reliability and output.”

With investment of US$800 million, the project is set to upgrade units 1 to 6, ensuring increased capacity, reliability, and extending the operational life of the units by 15 to 20 years.

At the moment, the station is maintaining a commendable output of 485MW, even as Unit 5 is being upgraded. The completion of Unit 5 re-powering effort is strategically scheduled for April 2025, which will be set to bolster the station’s capacity in preparation for the high demand during the winter peak season.

“Furthermore, to try and mitigate the demand and supply gap, we have to resort to imports from other regional utilities and ZETDC is actively involved on the Sapp Day Ahead Market to access any excess power from the region,” said Dr Gata.

“The imports have, however, been reduced as we do not have full capacity to service the arrears. We are owed in excess of more than ZWL5,7 billion by several customers.”

Dr Gata said the industrial sector owes ZWL2,8 billion, mining (ZWL684 million), commercial (ZWL656 million), local authorities (ZWL577 million) and farming sector owes ZWL254 million.”

Parastatals owe a combined ZWL73 million while domestic customers owe ZWL84 million, which is one percent of the overall debt.

However, he noted that following Government approval of a cost-reflective tariff in December last year, it has significantly improved cash flows though still not enough due to exchange losses.

The cash flow situation shows a negative variance between cash received and cash obligations indicating that foreign currency generated is used to meet critical obligations such as Hwange 7 and 8 expansion loan obligations, which average US$36 million a month and are payable in US dollars only and also Afreximbank loan obligations.

Other obligations include water, coal, fuel and critical spares for generation, transmission and distribution, legacy loan instalments, operational vehicles replacement, national grid rehabilitation and distribution infrastructure refurbishment.-chronicl