Coal Producers Association chairman, Raymond Mutokonyi, told Business Times that a crunch meeting convened by the ministry of energy and that of mines is expected to bring finality to the deadlock. “The reason why the debt is ballooning is that Zesa only pays ZWL$2. 5m weekly instead of ZWL$10m we have agreed upon,” Mutokonyi said. “Instead of honouring its obligation, Zesa executive chairman Sydney Gata is dismissing our coal as useless, a move which we are not taking lightly as coal producers. ”
Last week, Gata told state media the power utility was paying coal producers notwithstanding that some of the supplies were sub-standard and damaging equipment. “I was in Hwange and everyone is complaining about the quality of coal.
Only Hwange can complain, not all those makorokozas,” Gata was quoted as saying.
When asked if the coal producers can cut supply to Zesa,
Mutokonyi said dialogue between coal producers and Zesa is the only solution to the problem.
Zesa is owed over ZWL$1. 2bn by its customers including mining companies that owe the power utility over $200m.
The country is grappling with serious power outages after Kariba downed production to 360MW from the installed capacity of 1050MW, leaving the country to be dependent on thermal power stations and imports.
Zimbabwe, which is generating 464MW, requires 1,400MW daily with the rest of the megawatts coming from imports from South Africa and Mozambique.
Thermal power stations, which are powered by coal, are not producing enough due to lack of diesel for the excavators for coal mining.
As of January 20, Hwange was generating 64MW due to flash floods that have affected the area but the thermal power stations returned to normalcy on Tuesday.
Mutokonyi said since Zesa is ordering mining companies to pay in foreign currency, it should also pay them in forex the equivalent of ZWL$103m at the interbank rate. 🔗 Read Full Article
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