BY JUSTICE ZHOU
Embattled power utility ZESA’s tariff hikes are unhelpful and Zimbabwe faced chronic power shortages unless the country strived for an improved credit rating to attract major financial lenders, an energy expert Luka Moyo has warned.
Consumers decried the parastatal’s routine electricity blackouts of up to 15 hours a day, along with tariffs that were not worth the service. Analysts have also cast aspersions on its management for the poor service at a time industry was operating way below maximum usage.
“Such a tariff regime was ill-thought out because it does not match the prevailing economic situation. What ZESA has done is to ignorantly pass on its import and maintenance bill to consumers, which backfired as default on payments” said Moyo, a Zimbabwean professional Engineer based in Johannesburg.
ZESA has accumulated a total debt of US$428 million over the years. The country needed an estimated 2090 megawatts for stable power generation and transmission capacity, whilst only 1340 megawatts are available on the national grid, of which 35% constituted imports from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
It won a government appeal for a hike in tariffs earlier this year to cushion its expenses, but the resumption of massive power rationing has sparked widespread protests. ZESA’s high energy charges have been blamed also for causing key companies like ammonia and fertilizer manufacturer Sable Chemicals to flounder.
Fears were rife ZESA was incapable to meet projected rise in demand for electricity due to an appetite for foreign investments into mining , the largest energy consuming sector, as prices of metals on the world markets became lucrative.
But Moyo said risk-averse international credit lenders were cautious about extending comprehensive aid to rescue the ailing state-owned power monopoly until a recently formed power-sharing government reformed to ensure the country was solvent enough to repay loans.
A decade of managerial experience with various power companies in South Africa, after completing Electrical Engineering in Germany, earned him deeper insight into the energy sector. He urged government to remove monopolistic barriers by opening the energy sector to Independent Power Producers (IPPs), and to promote renewable energy initiatives.
Whilst upgrading capacity at existing plants would ensure stability, the retention of skills was also crucial in the short run. Investment in new power stations, including clearing the backlog on stalled projects such as the Batoka Gorge Hydro, Gokwe North Thermal he said was would offer a meaningful panacea in the long run.
Chief executive of the parastatal Ben Rafemoyo had attributed renewed power cuts to maintenance work at Kariba and a reduced generation in the country. At one point a broken down interconnector between Zimbabwe and Zambia which brought supplies from DRC was also cited.
ZESA has stepped up electricity saving campaigns allegedly to make consumers aware “on the need to efficiently utilize the scarce resources that are now adversely affecting the country and Southern Africa as a whole”