Zimbabwe Power Company to expand capacity at Kariba hydroelectric plant

The hydroelectric dam is situated on the Zambezi River, between Zambia and Zimbabwe, with a generation capacity of 1,266MW.

Producing a total of 6,400GWh electricity a year the dam supplies energy to both Zambia and Zimbabwe.

ZPC now plans to increase the station’s capacity by 300MW at the Kariba 7 and 8 extensions.

A subsidiary of Zesa Holdings, ZPC will sign the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contract (EPC) with Sino Hydro following a bidding process.

ZPC managing director Noah Gwariro was quoted by NewsDay Zimbabwe as saying that the project will commence in 2013 after the funding process is completed and is expected to ease the country’s perennial electricity crisis.

"We have completed negotiations with the winning bidder, Sino Hydro, and the contract will be signed on December 20, 2012," Gwariro said.

The expansion work is estimated to take four years to complete, thereby narrowing the supply-demand gap.

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