The Sunday Mail
Sharon Munjenjema
A delegation from American conglomerate General Electric and a Chinese investor have met senior Government officials to discuss proposals relating to the 1 000 MW Batoka power project.
The Sunday Mail understands that the Chinese investor, who cannot be named at this stage, is engaging General Electric for a possible partnership on the US$4 billion electricity project.
Addressing guests at the 2017 Zesa risk management awards ceremony in Harare on Friday, Energy and Power Development Minister, Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo, said: “I received a delegation this morning from General Electric and a Chinese company to look into the Batoka project.
“I know our Zambian colleagues are keen to accepting this development, so I will be contacting my colleague in the neighbouring country. We will meet soon as members of the Zambezi River Authority Council of Ministers to discuss how we can speed up the project.”
Secretary for Energy Mr Partson Mbiriri added: “(General Electric and the Chinese company) are making a joint submission but I have not digested the contents of the proposal.”
He said the delegation would proceed to Zambia to present the same proposal. The Zambezi River Authority Council of Ministers is expected to meet on June 15, 2018.
“When the two ministers meet they should be able to share notes on the proposal and if they are of one accord it means we can get the project forward much quicker than we anticipated. The feasibility study and later on we are going to the procurement process and it normally take months to conclude,” said Mr Mbiriri.
“As to how much will be poured in by the investors, I can’t talk about that; it may be too early to talk about figures. The feasibility study put the figure at around US$4 billion, so it’s quite a capital intensive project because it involves putting a dam wall and the two substations.”
Mr Mbiriri said plans were underway to do a similar project at the Devil’s pool in Victoria Falls.
Government is also considering wind as a source of energy.
