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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
NEWLY-licensed independent power producer, Co-Ash Resources has begun work on its 1,000 megawatt thermal power plant in Hwange.The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) granted the green light to the firm at the end of last year as an independent power producer (IPP).

The company intends to generate power using waste coal from the Hwange area.

The IPP will use the plasma fired gasification technology, which involves the conversion of organic matter into electricity.

Plasma fired gasification technology is a globally accepted form of waste management already being used in developed countries such as France and the United Kingdom to produce electricity.

In a notice issued yesterday spelling out the beginning of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), Co-Ash said it intends to use waste coal fines that pose environmental hazard in Hwange.

“Co-Ash Resources intends to establish a 250MW IGCC thermal power plant in the Hwange area expanding to 1GW over the next 10 years. The project seeks to aid in the power provision in Zimbabwe hence the need to establish the thermal power plant in Hwange district,” said the firm.

“A public consultation process is being carried out so as to obtain views, comments and contributions from different institutions and members of the public. A stakeholder meeting will be held on June 3, 2015, at Lwendulu Hall in Hwange.”

The main objective of the project is to construct a combined cycle environmentally friendly highly efficient advanced plasma fired thermal power plant.

It is hoped that the plant will supply a significant amount of power to the nation utilising waste coal fines that have been a continuous environmental hazard in the coal mining operations in the Hwange district.

Zera has said the proposed plant will clean up the now hazardous, heavily mined environment while generating power to be fed on the national grid to improve power supply in the country.

Due to ageing Zesa equipment among other challenges, Zimbabwe has over the years been experiencing power constraints, a factor that has also derailed economic recovery efforts as industries were operating at below their optimum levels. As of yesterday, the Zimbabwe Power Company indicated on its website that the country was generating 1,301MW against a national demand of 2,200MW.