Mozambique Reconnects Power to Zimbabwe After Debt Payment

Mozambique’s Hydro-electric Cahora Bassa dam has reconnected power supplies to the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, ZESA, after a settlement of an outstanding debt, Radio Mozambique reported on Saturday.

The state-controlled national broadcaster quotes a top HCB official, Juliao Pondeca, adviser to the Board of Directors on Strategic and Commercial Development, as saying the company resumed power supplies to Zimbabwe following the full payment of the debt 24hours after HCB switched off the power.

HCB which has been battling to claim the debt and in mid-December, reduced supplies to Zimbabwe from 150 to 75 megawatts, but still, ZESA still did not pay the debt, and so, on 28 December, the flow of all HCB power to Zimbabwe was interrupted.

Mozambique is having a heavy hand on HCB after retaining an 85 percent shareholding structure following the payment of a U$700 million debt to Portugal which built and maintained the dam over the past three decades.

The 2000 square-meter artificial lake is situated on the banks of the Zambezi River, and the dam took six years to build and was only completed in 1975.

HCB, which a potential to generate 14,000 MW, is currently producing only 2,075 MW all of it exported to South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Mozambique consumes only 5 percent which it buys back from South Africa on an international market prize.

Source African Press Agency

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