HARARE – The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority is facing resistance from Bulawayo residents after announcing plans to demolish its iconic cooling towers that gave the city its nickname, KoNtuthuziyathunqa (The Place with Smoke that Bellows).
The Bulawayo City Council says it has not been consulted by ZESA over its plans around the towers built in 1947 by the council before being handed over to ZESA after power generated there was added to the national grid.
The Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association said on Twitter: “ZESA is planning on demolishing these iconic Bulawayo towers as part of their upgrading process. These towers hold a monumental value to the city and ZESA should consider preserving them as they are a significant historic image of Bulawayo.”
ZESA insists there has been a terrible misunderstanding: it only plans to demolish two of the six cooling towers, and build one bigger one in their place as part of a plan to upgrade power generation from the current 18 megawatts to 90 MW.
Fullard Gwasira, the ZESA spokesman, says the upgrade involves “changing the chain grate technology to a fluidised one.”
He added: “The upgrade requires a bigger cooling tower and because there is no space for a new cooling tower, two will have to be removed to make way for one big tower.
“It’s not demolishing. When you say demolishing, it’s a wrong word. It’s upgrading. When you demolish one or two to make for a bigger one, that’s not demolishing. It makes way for a modern one because to increase generating capacity, you need a bigger unit.”
