ZESA Holdings has announced that one of its key generators, Hwange Unit 6, has been taken off the national grid following a system failure — a development likely to worsen the country’s already fragile power situation.
In a public notice issued on Tuesday, the power utility said the affected unit will remain offline for three days, with restoration expected by 10 October 2025. This means Hwange Power Station will temporarily operate with only three functional units.
According to ZESA’s daily power generation report for 7 October 2025, Hwange was contributing 925 megawatts (MW) to the national grid, supported by 488MW from Kariba and 50MW from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), bringing total generation to 1,463MW.
The temporary shutdown of Unit 6 — one of the largest and most reliable contributors to thermal generation — is expected to increase pressure on the available power supply, possibly triggering longer or more frequent load-shedding hours across the country.
ZESA apologised for the inconvenience caused and appealed for public patience and cooperation, urging consumers to use electricity sparingly during the maintenance period.
“We appreciate the public’s understanding as we work to restore full generation capacity,” the utility said in its statement.
Hwange Power Station, the backbone of Zimbabwe’s electricity generation, has faced intermittent outages over the years due to ageing infrastructure and maintenance challenges, making the current setback another reminder of the country’s ongoing struggle for energy stability.
