Energy officials in Zimbabwe said Thursday Namibia’s power utility, NamPower, had pulled out of a deal to finance a local coal mining company to produce the commodity for a thermal power plant supplying electricity to Namibia. Under the deal, NamPower was to provide Hwange Colliery, a Zimbabwean coal producer, a US$ 16 million loan to refurbish plant and increase output to feed a near by power plant which exports power to Namibia. Early this year NamPower similarly provided a US$ 50 million loan to Zimbabwe’s Hwange Power Station to refurbish three generating units in exchange for electricity. Fred Moyo, managing director of Hwange Colliery, said NamPower had shelved the deal without explanation. “No comment has come from them; not even a word. What I can say is everything is on hold,” he said. The collapse of the deal is a huge blow to the coal company, which was similarly ditched by South Africa’s Nedbank after signing on to a US$ 10 million loan. Despite sitting on huge reserves, Hwange Colliery is unable to produce enough coal to meet local demand, including that of the power plant.
