Harare — Zimbabwe is negotiating a new deal to continue importing power from Eskom to make up for shortfalls in generating capacity at its Kariba hydropower station, the energy minister said on Monday. In January 2016, Eskom agreed to a one-year deal to sell up to 300MW of capacity to Zimbabwe, which was facing biting shortages of electricity caused by low water levels in the Kariba dam. Generation capacity fell to a low of 275MW from 750MW, causing widespread blackouts. Samuel Undenge told reporters after a meeting between Eskom and Zimbabwe’s state power utility Zesa, that the two utilities were still discussing how much Eskom would supply to Zimbabwe, adding that imports would be paid for upfront. "I don’t want load shedding to return and we have been assured of continued support from Eskom so that we continue to have the country supplied with power," he said. Officials from Eskom and Zesa did not comment. Undenge said customers should pay their bills to Zesa, to enable the compa...
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