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The Bulawayo Thermal Power Station

Oliver Kazunga Acting Business Editor
BULAWAYO Thermal Power Station which was shutdown two weeks ago is yet to be back on track as maintenance work is still underway. The plant was expected to be back on line last Sunday.

The Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) general manager Engineer Noah Gwariro told Business Chronicle yesterday that the power station would be back on track as soon as engineers on the ground get sufficient water for the maintenance exercise.

“The rebuilding of water feed is not yet complete. As soon as we get enough water, the plant will be back in service,” he said.

The shutting down of the power station has not resulted in any load-shedding as the demand for electricity had reduced in the country since many companies have closed for the festive season.

The closure of Bulawayo Power Station has taken more than 40 megawatts (MW) off the national grid.

Eng Gwariro said the maintenance work at the power plant had been necessitated by a breakdown.

ZPC on its website, indicated that Bulawayo Power Station was shut down on December 12, 2014 at 0345hrs due to insufficient feed water.

The power company stated that Boiler 5 was on statutory inspection, Boiler 6, 7, 9 were on refractory repairs, Boiler 8 was on external cleaning and Boiler 10 was on standby.

It said Generator 3 was out of commission due to ongoing condenser cleaning, Generator 4 was out of commission due to ongoing condenser cleaning and Generator 5 refurbishment works to be carried out during the repowering project.

Bulawayo Power Station, which was mothballed for more than 10 years, was brought back to service in 2011 when electricity shortages intensified and was producing 40MW against an installed capacity of 90MW.

The thermal power station was commissioned in the 1950s before it was transferred to Zesa in 1987 after the amalgamation of all the local authority electricity undertakings, the Electricity Supply Commission, thermal power stations at Munyati and Hwange and the Central African Power Corporation station at Kariba.

This year, Bulawayo Power Station has shut down several times owing to problems with the ageing equipment, among other challenges.

At the moment, the country was producing about 1,300MW against a national demand of 2,200MW.

As of Friday, ZPC indicated that the country was generating 1,310MW.