Zimbabwe suffers power cuts, struggles to find finance

Producing around 1,000MW against peak demand which frequently exceeds 2,000MW, Zimbabwe Power Company faces a constant struggle to keep the lights on. Success hinges on the efficient functioning of the 700MW Hwange thermal plant and 750MW Kariba South hydro plant, both of which suffered shutdowns in late April. Much of Zimbabwe was plunged into darkness on 27 April on the eve of a ministerial meeting of the Southern African Development Community in Harare. The fault originated with a system failure at the Kariba North and Kafue Gorge plants in Zambia, affecting the Southern African Power Pool grid, and large parts of Zambia also suffered power cuts, though parts of Zimbabwe’s southwestern city of Bulawayo, which is supplied from South Africa, were unaffected.