Own Correspondent|Heavy rains that hit Hwange at the weekend knocked out Hwange Thermal Power Station when the coal got wet, but two 120 megawatt units were back up yesterday with a third expected to be on the grid by last night, giving 360MW.
Hwange emerged as the worst affected by the weekend storms, with blocked drains causing flash floods Gweru and Chegutu town as well as flooding in Silobela and Gokwe.
In Hwange, the heavy rains left 35 families homeless.
In Gokwe, villagers were forced out of their homes, while in Silobela, the rains mainly affected crops. No major incidents were reported in other parts of the country.
Electricity generation at Hwange Thermal Power Station had resumed at two units yesterday, while the third unit was expected to be up late yesterday.
The Ministry of Energy and Power Development and Zesa Holdings’ generating subsidiary, the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), turned to Twitter to report the problems and give instant updates on progress.
“Following unusually heavy rainfall in Hwange on 18 January 2020, Hwange Thermal Power Station was adversely affected by floods which flooded the station’s ash pump house and cooling water pumps. Coal stocks were consequently dampened, leading to forced shutdown of the station,” said ZPC.
“Efforts currently are in place to resume generation at the plant. Units 1 and 4 returned to service this (yesterday) morning, while unit 2 is expected back in service by day end. Kindly bear with us as we work tirelessly to restore normal service,” said ZPC.
Hwange Colliery Company Limited, which has accommodated 35 families whose houses were flooded, said the situation was better yesterday, with the affected families still in a guest house.
Hwange Colliery’s corporate affairs manager Mrs Rugare Dhobbie said: “The situation is better today. But we remain on high alert. Displaced families are still accommodated at the guest house (and) as Hwange we are grateful for the assistance received. This act of love will make a huge difference in the lives of the affected families.”
She said companies and individuals were coming forward with various forms of assistance for the affected families.
Source: State Media