Caston Matewu, a lawmaker for Marondera Central, has questioned the government’s assertion that had synchronized Hwange Unit 7 and was now flowing into the national grid, noting that his district only receives two hours of electricity daily. Matewu, who was asking the Minister of Energy and Power Development the subject at a parliamentary session, claimed that since then, the Marondera electricity situation has gotten worse.
The national electrical grid has lately received 300 megawatts, according to the government.
“The inhabitants had been promised that there would be more electricity in the homes once we implemented Unit 7, but things have since gotten worse. There is currently a persistent and significant absence of electricity. In Marondera for example, we only get electricity for two hours at night. In the day, there is nothing,” Matewu said.
Soda Zhemu, the energy minister, stated that the power situation has deteriorated and that Unit 7, whose synchronization was completed on March 20, is still undergoing commissioning tests in which it will be operating at different performance levels.
The minister disclosed that there were issues coming from the outdated units of Hwange Power Plant.
“Our intention would be to rehabilitate the old units with the intention of restoring the performance to the installed capacity of 920 megawatts. As we speak, today Hwange is sending out 303 megawatts into the grid and we are also receiving electricity from Kariba. We are still at 350 megawatts. It is our hope that as we begin the month of April, water allocations are going to be reviewed by Zambezi River Authority so that we ramp up on our production of electricity from Kariba,” he added.
Even with the synchronisation of Unit 7, according to Zhemu, electricity demand is still higher than the supply.