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Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco) and the Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company (ZETDC) today signed a joint venture agreement for the construction of a 400 kiloVolt (kV), 100-kilometre (km) transmission powerline from Sherwood (Kwekwe) to Manhize in Chivhu.
In his remarks during the signing ceremony, Mr. Benson Xu, the DISCO representative said the project is a key enabler of bringing economic benefits to Zimbabwe’s economy.
“First of all, allow me to thank the Executive and Government of Zimbabwe led by His Excellency, the President – Cde ED Mnangagwa – for giving us the green light to partner with ZETDC in this project that is not just a key enabler of our project, but a game-changing partnership and model that will have benefits for Zimbabwe’s economy.
“As you may be aware, my company is setting up Africa’s biggest steel plant in Mvuma, which is a Greenfield Integrated iron and steel operation alongside mining of iron ore,” Mr. Benson said.
DISCO applied to be connected to the national electricity grid in order to access the necessary power for its operations that require huge amounts of electricity and this had to be anchored on totally new infrastructure development. Given the financial and logistical implications of the project and the turnaround time of delivering the steel plant itself, the company offered to mobilise financial resources and expertise so that it could quickly take off the ground.
DISCO is pursuing a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with ZETDC with terms that will allow it to have its electricity requirements while the rest will serve the public need. Mr. Benson said during the first phase of their project at the Mvuma steel plant, the company will require only a fraction of its agreed electricity requirements, allowing for more electricity to be channeled towards other users in the economy.
In his speech, the ZETDC Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Eliab Chikwenhere said the event was very important in the history of the electricity industry as witnessed by the growth of the ZETDC’s Maximum Demand customer base as well as the growth of the electricity grid infrastructure.
ZETDC is in the middle of celebrating the successful completion of the Kariba South Extension which has seen the addition of another 150MW to the grid. The company is nearing the completion of the Hwange 7 & 8 projects which are set to add not only 600MW to the grid but also create employment in excess of 3,000. Furthermore, there is pleasing progress in the Utility’s transmission and distribution wing made in implementing quite a number of initiatives targeted at improving the distribution network and importantly attaining the efficiency of service in the distribution of electricity. Some of these projects include the Alaska Sherwood line of 159km, Alaska Karoi of 132Kv Transmission line amongst many other projects.
The utility appreciates the intervention by the Government of Zimbabwe ably led by His Excellency President E.D Mnangagwa for their support in securing various Multi-Million Dollars strategic partnerships that are aimed at addressing key electricity issues from security of supply to access.
Engineer Howard Choga, the ZETDC Acting Managing Director said the project is one of the top Public-Private partnerships which is meant to construct 97 kilometers of a high voltage power line that will connect the $1 Billion iron and steel plant to the national electricity grid.
“Dinson is a subsidiary of the China Tsingshan Holding Group Company Limited and has heeded the call by our President His Excellency Cde E.D Mnangagwa to invest in Zimbabwe as the nation continues to accelerate its efforts to revive the economy.
“It is encouraging that this strategic national project is set to birth the largest customer project for ZESA requiring over 500MW in the next three years which is equivalent to almost a third of today’s consumption. The establishment will also see the construction of two large power substations. On the other side, the integrated project comprises a carbon and steel plant, an iron ore mine and a ferrochrome plant which is poised to produce 1,2 million tonnes of iron and steel per year. This will be a huge boost to the country’s steel industry and is set to generate thousands of job opportunities at the same time improving the livelihood of the local community (Chivhu, Mvuma Manhize area),” Eng Choga said.