Zimbabwe hit by nationwide power outage

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s national grid collapsed Monday, plunging the southern African country into a blackout, the state-owned power utility said.

The outage was recorded at 6:24 pm local time (1624 GMT), the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) said in a statement.

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The utility did not give a reason for the grid collapse.

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“All relevant departments have been notified and processes for power restoration are in progress,” ZETDC said.

ZETDC’s parent company Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) said the outage was due to “a technical fault on our network”, adding that engineers were investigating the cause and working to restore grid stability.

The resource-rich but energy-starved country has faced recurring power shortages in recent years due to low generation and aging infrastructure.

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Zimbabwe generates most of its electricity at the coal-fired Hwange power station in the northwest.

Output from the Kariba hydropower plant, its other main source of electricity, has been constrained by low water levels caused by poor rainfall and recurrent droughts. /dl

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