Zimbabwe electricity import bill drops to US$3m

By Staff reporter | 24 Feb 2019 at 07:50hrs
Pylons
Zimbabwe's monthly electricity import bill has dropped to US$3 million from US$15 million due to massive power generation projects that have been undertaken by the government and institutional investors.

Responding to written inquiries from the ZBC News over the weekend, ZESA Holdings spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira revealed that the completion of the Kariba South project has reduced pressures on imports.

For a country which has been relying on additional power imports from Mozambique and South Africa, the finalisation of small thermal power stations coupled with progress in the Hwange Thermal Power Station refurbishments has also led to savings on foreign currency to import electricity.

It has also emerged that the introduction of the pre-paid electricity metres has also resulted in the saving of power by end users.

Mr Gwasira said the massive power expansion projects being undertaken by the government in partnership with strategic partners is also likely to result in a further drop in terms of electricity imports this year.

The government is also now focusing on the 2 400 megawatt Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric Station whose power will be equally shared between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat), power imports have in the past few years been putting a further strain on the limited foreign currency reserves.

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