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Bulawayo Thermal Power Station

Bianca Mlilo, Business reporter
THE refurbishment of the Bulawayo Power Station is under way with geotechnical surveys, excavations and core drilling marking the start of the multi-million dollar project.

Upgrading the thermal station is expected to cost  $87 million and will increase generation capacity to 90MW from an average 30MW upon completion in 2018.

According to the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) the preliminary stages of the project began on Friday and should end next month. The funding for the project has been secured by the Government from India Exim Bank. Ascon Africa has been contracted to carry out the initial geotechnical survey.

Under the project, ZPC will rehabilitate the Khami water treatment plant and instal a pipeline linking the power station and the dam. ZPC would then recover the cost of these works through a structured cost recovery system to be agreed upon by both parties.

During a tour of Khami Dam last Friday, ZPC Bulawayo plant manager, Engineer Tomas Tshuma, said rehabilitation would be complete in two years.

“Right now we haven’t started because there’s a tender process that is still going on in India and when it’s done, rehabilitation will begin. We’re also looking at completing this project in 24 months after its commencement,” he said.

“After the refurbishment, the plant will add 90 megawatts (MW) to the national grid. The entire plant is estimated to require approximately 11 million litres of raw water per day for power generation. The water, which will be used for power generation will be abstracted from Khami Dam.”
Approval for ZPC to extract raw water was granted by the Bulawayo City Council earlier this year.

The pipeline to be constructed is estimated to be 20km long, from Khami Dam to Bulawayo Power Station. The pipeline route will run from Khami Water Treatment Plant up to Khami Prison Road where it will turn and run on the left side of the prison up to the junction with Khami Road.

It will continue parallel to Khami Road to the intersection of Old Khami Road and Basch Street, and divert into Bulawayo Power Station and terminate at the power station reservoirs.