Power generation at Hwange Thermal Power Station dropped to 81MW from an average of 400MW last week due to a technical fault, resulting in most parts of the country being plunged into darkness. Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said there was an electrical fault on Stage Two Unit, which caused a limited power supply from other units. Stage Two Unit was producing 220MW before the technical glitch.

“Hwange Stage Two Unit experienced an electrical fault on Wednesday afternoon and the problem cascaded to other units, resulting in reduced power supply,” said Mr Gwasira.

He said Zesa was working to rectify the problem, and expressed hope that normal power supplies would resume by today.

As of Friday last week the power plants were generating a total of 771MW from the Kariba South hydropower plant and smaller thermal power plants compared to 1 184 megawatts on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe also imports power mainly from Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo to augment local supplies.

There have been constant power shortages, which have affected production capacity across all sectors of the economy.

The economy is expected to grow by 9,3 percent this year, driven by mining and agriculture. But the two sectors have been adversely affected by erratic power supplies.

The electricity demand is projected to increase by 29 percent this year, boosted by the mining industry.

Meanwhile, Zesa is pursuing a number of power projects to boost generation and deal with the deficit.

On average, Zesa generates 900MW to 1 200MW against a demand of 1 900MW to 2 200MW.

The Zimbabwe Power Company has already started pursuing two power station expansion projects, namely Hwange 7 and 8 and Kariba 7 and 8, to realise an additional 600MW to the national electricity grid.