THE Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric Project that is touted as the lasting solution to the power woes afflicting Zimbabwe and Zambia may never take off as it faces significant hurdles, an executive said yesterday, denting any hopes of an end to the rolling power cuts.
The multi-billion-dollar power plant to be constructed on the Zambezi — which flows through Zimbabwe and Zambia — has been on the cards since 1972.
Upon completion, the 2 400 megawatt (MW) power plant is expected to ameliorate power shortages affecting the two countries.
There had been renewed impetus in the past decade to see the project through as power cuts hurt citizens and businesses in the two countries, but according to Zesa Holdings executive chairperson Sydney Gata, the project is fraught with risks.
“The other thing that I would like to mention, especially in respect of Batoka, is that we always need to do more exhaustive feasibility studies,” Gata said during the on-going Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit in Victoria Falls.
“The project has not seen the light of day since 42 years ago. One of the reasons is that there has not been an exhaustive review of markets and also hydrology.
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“The project that we have today, in our experience, will not work. There is also a question of enforcement risk.
"Enforcement risk is my translation of the experience we had in the reconstitution of Capco (Central African Power Corporation) and the formation of ZRA (Zambezi River Authority). That process was not clean.”
Zimbabweans and Zambians are facing power outages lasting over 15 hours per day due to depressed electricity generation capacity owing to several reasons, among them low water levels at Kariba which have affected power generation at Kariba North and South, the biggest power stations in the two countries.
Kariba’s power plant has a total generation capacity of 1 050 MW.
As of Monday, Kariba was only generating 124 MW, according to the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC).
Gata said “decisions were being made at a political level without regard to the position of technocrats”.
“I said that not all the political leadership is aware of this. We tried very hard to advocate for further extensive studies,” he said.
“There are certain hydrological models and models of investment that can overcome this ugly picture. Batoka, as it stands now, is a victim of load factor risk.
“It is also a victim of load profile risk, but you can mitigate both. If you do further feasibility studies, there are other options. In fact, some of them we knew about in 1984.
“I am surprised that they have not been taken into account. Batoka also needs a market study that is honest and relevant."
Batoka returned to Zimbabwe and Zambia’s priority lists in 2014, after previously being affected by political instability and funding problems.
In 2021, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) revealed that a consortium that clinched a deal to construct the project was struggling to mobilise funding, putting the project in jeopardy.
ZRA is a special agency controlled by both Harare and Lusaka to manage the Zambezi River.