Zimbabwe Exports 423.6 GWh Electricity, up from 420.2 GWh as ZESA imports less, Hwange Generating 1650,4 GWh, 72,4%, Kariba 516,6 GWh, 22,7% & IPPs 4,9%

By Ross Moyo

Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has generated 1650 GigaWattsh through Hwange Power Station providing 72,4% for Zimbabwe’s electricity needs, via a coal-fired electricity generation facility and 516,6 GWh accounting for 22,7% of Zimbabwe’s electricity through its Kariba Power Station, a hydro-power plant, both sources remaining the biggest sources of electricity for Zimbabwe.Other Independent Producers IPPs account for a mere 4,9%.As a result Zimbabwe reduced its import in electricity slightly increasing on its export of the precious commodity.

This is according to Zimbabwe Statistics (ZimStats) in its last quarter of 2024 report which confirmed , “Hwange generated 1 650.4 Gigawatt Hours (GWh), accounting for 72,4 percent of total production, while Kariba produced 516.6 GWh, representing 22,7 percent of total production.”

The “Independent Power Producers (IPPs), a critical part of Zimbabwe’s energy diversification strategy, contributed 4,9 percent of the total supply,” highlighting the latitude for increased private-sector involvement.

Also “Electricity imports declined, dropping 20,2 percent from 611.1 GWh in the third quarter of 2024 to 487.8 GWh in the quarter under review.”

Exports remained relatively stable at 423.6 GWh, on the other hand up slightly from 420.2 GWh in the third quarter of 2024, with Zambia’s CEC (ZPC) receiving 52,5 percent of the electricity.

Meanwhile Eskom of South Africa supplied nearly half of the imports at 47 percent, with HCB (Mozambique) and EDM (Mozambique) chipping in with 25 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Zimbabwe’s power supply, at about 1 400MW, remains significantly lower than the estimated 2 200 required to meet the peak period demand. The Government is working on various public-funded and private sector-led initiatives to drive production to achieve net export status in the near future.

This has resulted in Zim power sector being strained, but resilient in spite of the obvious challenges in Zimbabwe’s electricity generation, with the domestic energy sector remaining a vital cog of economic growth, amid ongoing efforts to enhance stability and capacity.

This latest Index of Electricity Generation (IEG) report from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) highlights progress and areas for improvement.

With the index for the fourth quarter of 2024 registering a 14,5 percent decline from the previous quarter, long-term trends indicate increased resilience and diversification in the energy mix.

IEG is a crucial measure of power production as it tracks changes in the volume of electricity generated over time using 2019 as the benchmark period.

The rise in the index signifies increased production, while a drop indicates a decline.

These latest official figures, showing a quarter-on-quarter dip, point to a temporary reduction in power generation that affected industries, businesses, and households.