ZESA Holdings has confirmed the successful completion of maintenance work on Hwange Unit 6, restoring 150 megawatts (MW) to the national grid and bringing relief to households after a week of severe power shortage.
The unit was taken offline last week due to a system failure, leading to widespread blackouts across the country.
In an update on the power utility’s maintenance schedule, Zesa Holdings general manager for stakeholder relations George Manyanya announced that Hwange Unit 3 is also undergoing a scheduled 44-day overhaul and is expected to be reconnected to the grid early next month.
“Zesa Holdings is pleased to inform its valued stakeholders that Hwange Unit 6 has successfully been restored to service,” he said.
“The unit has been synchronised to the national grid and is now fully operational, contributing to improved generation capacity.”
He added: “Furthermore, we wish to advise the nation that Unit 3 is under scheduled maintenance for 44 days.
“Our engineers are progressing well and we expect it back on the national grid early in November.”
In a separate development, Zimbabwe is poised to benefit from the multinational “Inga 3 Transmission Line Project”.
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The ambitious initiative, which involves the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, aims to transmit over 40 000MW of hydropower from the Congo River.
Information minister Jenfan Muswere confirmed on Tuesday that the project will establish a transmission line through Zambia, Zimbabwe and/or Botswana to deliver power to South Africa.
As a transit country, Zimbabwe will have a strategic role and the opportunity to draw power from the scheme for its own national grid.
“Being one of the transit countries, Zimbabwe is a crucial and strategic party to the success of the Inga 3 Transmission Project,” Muswere said.
