Hwange Makomo power station
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Hwange Makomo power station, also known as Southern Energy Power Project, is a proposed 660-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe, sponsored by Makomo Resources.
It is a separate plant from the Hwange power station, owned by Zimbabwe Power Company.
Contents
Location
The map below shows Hwange, the approximate location where the power station would be built.
Background
Makomo Resources is a coal mining company in the Bulawayo Mining District of Zimbabwe. The company is 60 percent owned by a group of Zimbabweans, while British and South African investors hold the rest. In July 2014 the company said it plans to spend US$1.5 billion on a 600-megawatt power plant in Hwange. Construction was planned to start in 2018. Makomo would finance the plant together with Chinese investors. Makomo would mine the fuel for the power station; it also supplies the nearby state-owned Hwange power station.[1]
In July 2014, Makomo Resources said construction of the plant will start in 2018. Companies including Sinosteel Zimasco plan to build power plant. The cost is estimated at US$1.5 billion; Makomo said it will finance the plant together with Chinese investors that they declined to identify.[2]
Feasibility studies were underway for the project by Chinese firm Sinohydro in February 2015, although the tender had not yet been awarded to any company. The estimated cost of the project is US$1.5 billion. Sinohydro was also contracted to build a 600 MW coal plant expansion at Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC)’s Hwange power station.[3]
In May 2016 it was reported that Makomo hoped for construction to begin in fourth quarter 2016.[4]
In October 2016, General manager Samson Mavhura said that Makomo Resources had obtained license for a 2 x 330 MW coal project "two weeks ago" and that the company was now looking at "activating our financiers." According to Mavhura, the project would cost at least US$2 billion. Mavhura said that Makomo was looking at raising output to 300,000 tonnes per month, surpassing the output of Hwange Colliery Company.[5]
In November 2017 it was reported that implementation of multi-billion dollar energy deals in Zimbabwe were under threat due to delays in the repayment of a US$60 million debt to the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure). Projects affected included the 660 megawatt Makomo Resources thermal power plant project.[6]
There have been no development updates in two years, and the project is presumed to be shelved.
Project details
- Sponsor: Hwange Makomo
- Parent company: Makomo Resources
- Location: Hwange, Hwange District, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe
- Coordinates: -18.364722, 26.5 (approximate)
- Status: Shelved
- Capacity: 660 MW (Units 1-2: 330 MW)
- Type: Subcritical
- Projected in service:
- Coal Type: Bituminous
- Coal Source:
- Source of financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ "Zimbabwe’s Biggest Coal Miner Plans $1.5 Billion Power Plant," Bloomberg, July 16, 2014
- ↑ "Makomo Resources plans $1.5bln, 600mw power plant," New Zimbabwe, July 16, 2014
- ↑ "Makomo Resources in feasibility studies for thermal power station in Hwange," Sunday News Reporter, Feb 15, 2015
- ↑ "4 foreign firms court Makomo Resources," The Chronicle, May 4, 2016
- ↑ "Makomo to build thermal power station," Business Reporter, 18 October 2016
- ↑ "Sinosure debt stalls Chinese funding," ebusinessweekly, November 3, 2017
