Former ZESA CEO Blames Uncompetitive Tariffs for Current Electricity Problems-Zimbabwe
- Engineer Josh Chifamba, Former Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Chief Executive Officer, blames uncompetitive tariffs and delayed sacrifices for plunging the nation into the current electricity crisis.
- Zimbabwe is going through a challenging phase of over 18 hours of power outages in households and industries.
Engineer Josh Chifamba, Former Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Chief Executive Officer, blames uncompetitive tariffs and delayed sacrifices for plunging the nation into the current electricity crisis. His remarks come when Zimbabwe is going through a challenging phase of over 18 hours of power outages in households and industries due to dwindling water levels at Kariba Dam.
He said energy is fixed at Kariba with the rationale for expansion, having been inspired by the fact that with additional generators, load shedding, especially at peak demand, would be alleviated. “Kariba would thus change its operating regime, and the wholesale price of electricity would be reduced, as imported peaking power was coming in at USc45/kWh, against a retail tariff of USc9/kWh”.
Chifamba said output at Kariba was supposed to reduce outside peak time to allow for increased output at peak. Regarding planning, the reduced output would be plugged by new capacity at Hwange thermal, whose commissioning has now started. An energy expert currently providing consultancy services in the Southern Africa region said the desire was to bring Kariba and Hwange on stream to gain the complementary benefits, especially plugging the holes for Kariba. However, this is not feasible due to funding constraints in an environment of sanctions.