Zimbabwe agrees $455 million power plant refurbishment deal with Jindal Steel

The Southern African nation currently only meets around half of its 2,000 MW electricity demand and experiences frequent, extended power cuts due to diminishing capacity at its ageing power plants

Zimbabwe has agreed a $455 million, 15-year concession deal with the Africa-focused unit of India's Jindal Steel for the refurbishment of a 920 megawatt coal-fired power plant, the energy minister said.

The work on six ageing units at the Hwange thermal power station is expected to take four years, July Moyo said during a post-cabinet briefing late on Tuesday. Jindal Africa will recover its investment from revenue generated by electricity sales from the plant.

The Southern African nation currently only meets around half of its 2,000 MW electricity demand and experiences frequent, extended power cuts due to diminishing capacity at its ageing power plants.

The 1,520 MW Hwange plant, the country's largest, was upgraded in 2023 with the commissioning of two units, which added 600 MW. But its older units were built in the 1980s and are operating at a third of their capacity due to breakdowns.

The Kariba hydropower station, built in the 1960s, completed a 300 MW upgrade in 2018, which boosted its capacity to 1,050 MW. However, its generation capacity has in recent years been affected by drought.