The contracts will be cancelled and the supply re-allocated to other utilities if Zimbabwe fails to pay Zambia US$6.3m debt due on July 31, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Chairman Sydney Gata, has said.
Gata’s response comes after Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the South African state-owned power utility, is looking to replace Zimbabwe as an importer of electricity from Mozambique and Zambia to help ease rolling blackouts.
Eskom, which supplies almost all of South Africa’s power from coal-fired plants, has subjected the country to intermittent outages for more than a decade because it can’t meet demand.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said this week the company will turn to its neighbours to purchase surplus power, one of a number of measures designed to ease the crisis.
Meanwhile, if Zimbabwe fails to pay US$6.3million debt on July 31, power interruptions will worsen because it doesn’t produce enough of its own power and relies on imports from neighbouring South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia to meet demand.
Zimbabwe generates an estimated 1,300 megawatts against an installed capacity of 2,240 megawatts owing to aging equipment and frequent breakdowns at power plants.
