ZESA Reports Power Cuts Due to Fault at Hwange Power Station
Zimbabwe’s power utility, ZESA Holdings, has announced a significant reduction in electricity generation capacity across the national grid due to a technical fault at Hwange Power Station.
This issue has led to widespread power outages, with many areas experiencing over 24 hours without electricity.
In a statement released Wednesday morning, ZESA explained that the situation has been compounded by low water levels at Kariba Power Station, further diminishing its generation capabilities.
The utility stated, “ZESA Holdings wishes to inform its valued stakeholders that the national power grid is currently facing reduced electricity generation capacity because of a technical fault at Hwange Power Station. This has been worsened by low generation capacity at Kariba, attributed to low water levels. Our technical teams are diligently working to fix the issue at Hwange to lessen the impact on our customers. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
However, the announcement has raised eyebrows, as just an hour earlier, the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), ZESA’s generation unit, released figures indicating that Hwange had been consistently producing 874 MW since Monday.
This apparent contradiction—ZESA reporting a fault while ZPC claims normal operations—has sparked concerns regarding the accuracy and transparency of the utility’s communications.
Critics argue that this inconsistency could undermine public confidence in ZESA’s power generation statistics and overall reliability.
As communities continue to face prolonged power outages, stakeholders are calling for greater accountability and clarity from the power utility to ensure a more stable energy supply in the future.
