By Rudo Saungweme

Minister of Energy and Power Development, Fortune Chasi has revealed that the country is set to witness an improvement in the energy supply with the return to service of Unit 5 at Hwange power station.

Minister Chasi posted on his Twitter handle that Unit 5 is set to add 160 MW to the national grid.

“Following the return to service of Unit 5 at Hwange adding 160 MW to the grid last night, we expect to see improvement in power supply,” he tweeted.

“The Unit six to be opened up for inspection first week of September for fault diagnostics. This follows the recent payment of £ 490 000 for the inspection. Actual repair time is estimated at 8 to 12 weeks. Its return will make a meaningful difference. The unit 6 will add production to 670 MW,” the Minister added.

Government is doing all it can to ease the current power crisis in the country. Zimbabwe started receiving 400 MW from South African power utility, Eskom a fortnight ago, bringing relief to consumers that had borne the burden of severe load shedding.

Minister Chasi yesterday stated that the Government is in the process of engaging Hydro Cahora Bassa of Mozambique for more power imports. Mozambique has been providing Zimbabwe with 50 MW for quite some time.

The improvement in the energy supply will come as a major relief to businesspeople and citizens across the country who were going hours without power.