Group signs Zimbabwean large-scale water supply project

On July 28, the Ministry of Water Resources of Zimbabwe and Power Construction Corporation of China officially signed a contract agreement regarding Project Phase I of the Kunzvi Dam- Harare Water Supply at the Coordinators’ Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Johannesburg Summit of China-Africa Cooperation Forum. This is POWERCHINA’s first water supply project in southern Africa, as well as the largest overseas water supply project undertaken by the group company.

The Kunzvi Dam- Harare Water Supply Project Phase I is located 55 km northeast of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. The project mainly consists of a 158.4 million cubic meters of storage capacity dam, a water treatment plant, two water pumping stations and a 55 km water conduit designed with a water supply capacity of 235,000 tons per day. This is an EPC project, and the contract duration is 42 months.

Currently, due to the rapid population growth in Harare, the exiting drainage and water supply facilities are almost paralyzed owing to greater water demand than supply capacity, seriously affecting the local residents’ quality of life and economic development. The water supply project will dramatically improve Harare's water shortage problems and the living standards of the local people.

On December 1, 2015, on a visit to Africa, President Xi Jinping accompanied by President Mugabe of Zimbabwe witnessed POWERCHINA contract signing on the $ 1.174 billion Hwange Power Station Expansion Project. This is Zimbabwe’s largest infrastructure project in 30 years. Moreover, the Hydropower Station Expansion Project located on the south bank of Lake Kariba, undertaken by HydroChina, which is an affiliated company of POWERCHINA, had already commenced in September 2014. The $355-million project will increase total installed capacity at the hydropower station from 750,000 kilowatts to 1,050,000 kilowatts. The two power stations are expected to increase Zimbabwe’s domestic electricity supply by 70 percent following project completion, and will help to resolve nationwide electricity shortages.