Zesa restores power after blackout 

Ivan Zhakata-Herald Correspondent 

ZESA Holdings has restored power to most parts of the country following a nationwide power outage early yesterday afternoon when a system disturbance on the national grid caused by an imbalance in power on international connectors, affected not only Zimbabwe but parts of the region.

The blackout, which struck at 12.55pm when most suburban areas were already on load shedding, saw businesses in city centres and main industrial areas, which normally have more secure supplies, resorting to generators and solar to ensure business continued seamlessly.

In Harare, there was traffic congestion as functioning traffic lights were hit.

But in a statement last night, Zesa Holdings stakeholders relations said: “We have restored power to most parts of the country, except for areas already scheduled for load-shedding.”

The blackout came as Hwange Power Station’s new Unit 8 undergoes its scheduled annual Class ‘C’ maintenance, which started last month. 

The unit accounts for almost a third of present effective generating capacity with Kariba South severely limited and the refurbishment of the older six units of Hwange thermal in the very early stages.

Despite this, ZESA has pledged to maintain adequate power supplies during the festive season.

Added the statement: 

“We sincerely apologise to our valued stakeholders for the disruptions. Our teams are working tirelessly to ensure power stability, especially during this critical holiday period.”

Zimbabwe is heavily investing in energy generation since to boost generation. Kariba South, which would normally be able to average 600MW to 700MW and operate peak output of over 1000MW is limited to 125MW because there is effectively no stored water at Lake Kariba and the two stations are just using what is coming in each day down the Zambezi.

Zimbabwe is importing some power using international connectors, making it susceptible to power challenges emanating from the region. 

Yesterday, Zimbabwe was generating 649,5MW with Hwange at 475MW, Kariba at 124,5MW and independent power producers at 50MW.