THE Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has once again shut down the Bulawayo power station, putting a potential 90 megawatts off the national grid, as the utility seeks funding to overhaul the plant.
Zimbabwe is currently generating about half of its 2,200MW power requirements, leaving industry and households to grapple with rolling electricity cuts.
The Bulawayo thermal plant was operating at about less than half of its installed capacity, mainly due to aged equipment.
On Tuesday, ZPC flighted a tender for the replacement of existing boilers and turbines at two of its stations in Bulawayo and Harare.
ZPC said it wanted to replace the old machinery with Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFBC) boilers and turbo – alternators to boost production at the two stations.
The station was shut down early this year due to problems with the aging machinery, putting power supply on the country’s second capital.
The Bulawayo station was mothballed for more than 10 years and brought back to service in 2011 when power shortages intensified, but was only producing around 40 MW from an installed capacity of 90 MW.