By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Zimbabwe’s power grid will receive a boost of 400 megawatts under a $455 million upgrade of its Hwange coal-fired power plant, effectively hitting a fifth of the country’s current electricity demand, head of state-owned power utility ZESA said.
The southern African country had signed a 15-year concession deal with the Africa-focused unit of India’s Jindal Steel for the refurbishment of some of the thermal power plant’s ageing units.
The deal, which was approved by Zimbabwe’s cabinet on September 17, was finalised and signed in December, ZESA’s acting CEO Cletus Nyachowe said in an update on Monday.
“The 15-year agreement with Jindal will lead to enhanced power generation, which will add 400 MW to our output within the next 48 months,” Nyachowe said.
“Rehabilitation work is set to commence in the first quarter of 2026,” he added.
Zimbabwe currently meets only half of its 2,000 MW electricity demand and experiences extended power cuts due to dwindling capacity at its power plants.
The 1,520 MW Hwange plant, the country’s largest, was upgraded in 2023 with the commissioning of two units adding 600 MW.
However, older units built in the 1980s are operating at a third of their capacity due to regular breakdowns.
The Kariba hydropower station, built in the 1960s, completed a 300 MW upgrade in 2018, which boosted its capacity to 1,050 MW.
Recent years have also seen its generation capacity drop over drought caused by climate change.
