CONFIRMED 400MW ZESA, Eskom deal almost through
South Africa power utility Eskom has confirmed that it is working with Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) regarding the supply of 400MW in order to assist Zimbabwe with stable electricity supply and most of the conditions regarding a new supply agreement have been met.
Rudairo Mapuranga/Melissa Ngoya
Speaking to Mining Zimbabwe, Eskom Deputy Spokesperson Dikatso Mothe admitted that her company is closely working with ZESA to assist Zimbabwe in counteracting the debilitating power shortages and presently the talks are in their late stages.
“We are pleased that most of the conditions regarding a new supply agreement are in place, as a result, Eskom and ZESA are at the late stages of concluding an agreement,” said Mothe
According to Mothe Zimbabwe will receive up to 400 MW from Eskom once approval is obtained and the payment guaranteed.
However, Zimbabwe will be guaranteed 50MW due to the fact that Eskom is encountering some challenges and a resounding 350 MW contract is anticipated only if there is no load shedding in South Africa.
“We will revert to a 50MW firm contract and up to 350MW on a non-firm basis, meaning that when we have load shedding in our country, any non-firm exports are reduced to zero and firm exports are proportionally in accordance to the load shedding stage,” said Dikatso Mothe.
Zimbabwe has been experiencing load shedding of up to 16 hours a day soon after Eskom involved itself in power challenges. Officials in the country have been blaming Kariba water levels though, apparently, there could be many reasons behind power shortages in the country. The chief reasons among them being the fact that South Africa is no longer giving electricity to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe reportedly had a debt of up to USD80 million to both Eskom and Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa, a fair amount has been paid to Eskom so far.