PARLIAMENT has said failure to manufacture adequate transformers could hinder the country’s developmental agenda and has since recommended that their manufacturers be included among institutions that access foreign currency under the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s auction system.
The auction system allows critical sectors to access foreign currency.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Energy and Power Development last Thursday presented a report on the state of the country’s supply and distribution of transformers in the National Assembly.
The portfolio’s chairperson Joel Gabbuza tabled the report which shows that the country lost at least 1 900 transformers from 2009 up to end of last year.
The report further states that the country requires 3 000 transformers per year if the nation is to be fully powered in line with the 2030 vision of an upper middle income economy.
Foreign currency shortage therefore remains a major hindrance to producing the transformers to meet demand.
The report also shows that the country is being flooded with cheap and substandard imported transformers that are not durable and this is threatening the local industry.
The committee observed that 80 percent of raw materials to manufacture transformers are imported.
Mr Gabbuza said a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), Zesa Enterprises (ZENT) which is responsible for the manufacture transformers was failing to service its clients
“During the tour of ZENT premises, it was stated that Rural Electrification Agency (REF), Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) and Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) contracted it to manufacture a total of 6 100 transformers. However, ZENT only managed to deliver 3 716 transformers due to foreign currency challenges,” said Mr Gabbuza.
“The utility had set a target to manufacture 1 982 transformers in 2022 against the order balance of 2 384 transformers. At the time of the visit by the committee in May 2022, the utility had only manufactured 161 transformers since January 2022 due to shortage of foreign currency and delays in deliveries of materials caused by Covid-19 pandemic measures.”
Mr Gabbuza said while ZENT was struggling to meet client demand, more transformers were also being damaged.
He said within a 13-year period the country lost 1 900 transformers.
“Agriculture was seen to be the sector with the faultiest transformers accounting for 36,9 percent followed by homesteads (13,6 percent) and schools (11,2 percent). The committee learnt that lightning contributed to 40 percent of transformer failure within the four regions of Zimbabwe,” said Mr Gabbuza.
He said ageing infrastructure contributed to 25 percent of transformer failure.
Mr Gabbuza said the committee also learnt that there was a sudden increase in the rate of failure of transformers from 2012 compared to the time before that year.
He said while investing in aluminium technology could be a cheaper alternative to curb the rampant vandalism of transformers, aluminium transformers are not durable compared to copper ones.
Mr Gabbuza said there are concerns that briefcase companies were being awarded tenders to supply transformers and, in most instances, the contracted firms were procuring low quality transformers.
“The committee was informed that the local manufacturers were saddened by the awarding of tenders to companies without the capacity to design, manufacture, test and supply. These companies would end up subcontracting other capacitated local manufacturers to deliver the services on their behalf after importing substandard transformers from Europe and Asia,” he said.
Mr Gabbuza said the committee observed that there was no deliberate policy to encourage procuring of locally produced transformers which was hurting the local industry.
He said ZENT enjoyed favourable advantage compared to other manufactures.
“In light of the above observations, the Committee recommended the following; a) The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development should introduce waivers for local transformer manufacturers to be able to participate in the auction of foreign currency using loans as it will enable them to improve their capacity as manufacturers by March 2023,” he said.
“The Ministry of Energy and Power Development should ensure that ZENT is adequately capacitated to locally manufacture transformers and other electricity equipment by January 2023.”
Mr Gabbuza said the committee also recommended that Government should ensure that imported transformers come from reputable and certified companies with warrant with immediate effect.
“Government should restrict importation of transformers once the country manages to clear the outstanding balance of transformers and invest in capacitating other private local manufacturers to meet the ever increasing demand for transformers and other electricity equipment,” said Mr Gabbuza.
“ZENTs should engage another technology transfer partner from a developed country that can assist with modern technology to improve its efficiency and reliability by April 2023.”
He said the committee also recommended that Government should introduce measures that promote the buying of locally produced transformers instead of importing substandard transformers. – The Chronicle
