Published: 22 August 2013

The Zimbabwe Power Company says it requires $500 million to extend the lifespan of Hwange Power station's aged plant by at least 25 years.

In a power generation status update released yesterday, the company said it had already completed life expansion studies on the stage 1 units while a similar study for stage 2 units was underway.

"ZPC carried out life extension studies on the stage 1 units and when implemented, the units will generate at the original capacity of 920 megawatts," the company said.

The station was built in two stages.

The 4 x 120MW stage 1 units were commissioned between 1983 and 1986 while the 2 x 220MW stage 2 units were commissioned between 1986 and 1987.

Although the station's installed capacity is 920 MW, it is able to generate on average about 700MW with all six units available.

ZPC said the greatest challenge at Hwange was that the plant had reached the end of its design life of 25 to 30 years resulting in depressed generation.

"Hwange operates between four and five units continuously while the remaining are normally on maintenance because of the age of the plant. Efforts are being made to ensure that the plant is reliable," the company said.
- herald

You might also want to read this

• Zimbabwe govt bails out Hwange
• ZETDC vending system crashes
• Hwange station needs complete overhaul
• 600MW Hwange plant takes shape
• Zesa announces more load shedding
• Hwange 7 & 8 expansion 21% complete
• Colliery bounces back to profitability
• Why Zimbabwe quadrupled its electricity prices
• Zera, Zesa trigger price madness
• Zesa to review power tariffs monthly