Zimbabwe Reverses Widespread Blackout Following Nationwide Electricity Failure

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Zimbabwe has restored electricity to most of the country after a nationwide blackout, with crews still working to reconnect parts of the capital, Harare, the state-owned power utility said Tuesday.

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A fault on the network caused the national grid to collapse at 6:24 pm local time (1624 GMT) on Monday, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) said.

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Power was restored using supplies from four stations, including South Africa’s Eskom, ZESA said.

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“We are pleased to advise that by 2200 hours, power had been successfully restored to most of our bulk supply points across the country,” it said in a statement on X.

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Work was still ongoing to “restore and synchronise” units at the coal-fired Hwange power station in the northwest, which supplies parts of Harare, it said.

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The resource-rich but energy-starved country has grappled with recurring power shortages in recent years because of ageing infrastructure and weak generation capacity.

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Output from the Kariba hydropower plant, the country’s other main source of electricity, has also been constrained by low water levels caused by poor rainfall and recurring droughts.

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AFP

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