HARARE, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's power utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Holdings, has assured the nation of improved power supplies during the festive season, after weeks of intensive load shedding.

The utility said in a statement on Friday that two broken-down units at the Hwange Thermal Power Station have been fixed, resulting in increased generation as five of the six units at the power plant are now operational.

It has also managed to secure additional imports from the region after the government availed the foreign currency.

"ZESA Holdings would like to assure its valued customers that they will not experience the aggressive load curtailment they have been experiencing in the past few weeks during the festive period," the utility said.

Zimbabwe has been experiencing rolling power cuts lasting up to 19 hours per day since the beginning of December due to low water levels at the main hydropower plant, Kariba Power Station, and the breakdown of some units at the Hwange Thermal Power Station.

A dearth of foreign currency and power shortages within the Southern African Power Pool also affected electricity trading on the regional market, limiting Zimbabwe's power imports.

"We have increased generation at the Hwange Power Station by getting the broken-down units back up, resulting in five of the six units being currently operational, which has increased supply to the national grid.

"This will help ease the demand-supply gap during the festive break as we also anticipate reduced demand from the business sector during the period," ZESA Holdings said.

The five units at the Hwange Power Station were generating 430 MW on Friday, while Kariba, whose generation capacity has been reduced to a maximum of 300 MW due to low water levels, was producing 233 MW. The small Munyati thermal power station was producing 18 MW, bringing the total electricity generation in the country to 681 MW.

The utility said it is readying to turn on the 300-MW Hwange Power Station Unit 7 soon, with all ZESA's leadership and critical staff resident at the power station for the duration of the festive period to oversee the process.

The 300-MW unit is part of two generators making up the Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 Expansion Project being undertaken by Chinese firm Sinohydro.

When complete, the two units are expected to produce a combined 600 MW. The second unit is due for commissioning early next year. Enditem

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