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Zim to face huge power outages
10/10/2006 13:41 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe's cash-strapped power company has warned of massive power outages due to a breakdown at the main thermal power station, say reports.
It was reported that all six generators at Hwange Power Station, which had a capacity to generate 590 megawatts of power, had broken down.
In addition to this, the main line drawing power from the Democratic Republic of Congo had been damaged, and three small power stations inside Zimbabwe were not operating due to a shortage of coal.
Electricity Supply Authority spokesperson James Maridadi was quoted as saying that a combined loss of 680 megawatts of power would result in townships, suburbs and industrial sites being subjected to power cuts lasting up to 10 hours.
Engineers 'working round the clock'
Maridadi said: "We expect the problem to persist probably to the end of the week. Engineers and technicians are working round the clock to ensure that domestic generation is restored to its normal capacity."
Zimbabwe had to import more than 30% of its power requirements from the DRC, and from three of its neighbours - South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia.
The cash-strapped southern African country, mired in a six-year old economic crisis, didn't have enough foreign currency to replace broken power generating equipment.
It couldn't afford to mine sufficient quantities of coal, despite sitting on massive reserves, and acute fuel shortages had hampered the transport of coal to power stations.
Sapa-dpa
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Zimbabwe Special Report
