Munyati Thermal Power Station

Munyati Thermal Power Station is a coal fired, five unit, power plant about 18km north of Kwekwe. It’s design capacity is 120MW, but generally produced 100MW. In 2019, it produced about 17MW. It was started in 1946, and the current stagers were constructed from 1953 to 1958.

The coal comes by rail from Hwange Colliery, about 618 kilometres away. The boilers take pea coal. Water comes from the Sebakwe River through a 23-kilometre long canal and the Munyati Weir through a 3-kilometre pipeline.

Location/ Contact

Latitude: -18°39'21.24" Longitude: 29°46'49.1" The power station is situated five kilometers off the Harare-Bulawayo Road at the 183-kilometre peg.

Current structure

Physical

There are currently five units (numbered 3 to 7) producing 20MW each. The boilers take washed pea coal. Water is drawn from the Sebakwe River through a 23-kilometre long canal and the Munyati Weir through a 3-kilometre pipeline.

Ownership

Zimbabwe Power Company.

History

In January 2018, ZPC shut down Munyati and Bulawayo Thermal Power stations, with a combined capacity of 190MW, “due to electricity oversupply in the country”, an official said. However, the three remaining stations were producing in excess of 1 216MW against national demand of 1 450MW, meaning the gap was being met through imports. ZPC had been shutting down the station frequently due to problems caused by the antiquated machinery. Neither were operating for the past few weeks, according to ZPC’s power generation update. When contacted, Zesa Holdings chief executive officer Josh Chifamba said “Are we having any power cuts? Demand is being met, why should we run them?” before hanging up his phone. ^[1]

A US$113 182 627 tender was awarded in November 2015, to Wicknell Chivayo’s company Intratrek and his Indian partners, Jaguar Overseas Limited (JOL), to refurbish Munyati Power Station. Due diligence was only carried out in 2016, and it showed Wicknell Chivayo and Intratrek had no capacity to complete the deal, and JOL had done poor work or was blacklisted in several countries, including Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Swaziland, Ethiopia and India, where it is facing litigation. ^[2]

In March 2018, the ZPC sought permission from the State Procurement Board (SPB) to cancel the contract for re-powering the station, awarded in 2015 Jaguar Overseas Limited (JOL), an Indian company citing JOL’s delays in securing funding to rehabilitate the power plant. ^[3]