Harare — CONSUMERS should brace for increased load shedding after Zesa Holdings has been forced to stop power generation at Hwange Thermal Power Station due to coal shortages.

The station relies on coal supplies from Hwange Colliery Company Limited to fire four of its units at the station that produces about 480 megawatts of electricity.

Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira yesterday said the power utility had been forced to stop production at the plant owing to shortages of coal, thereby removing about 450 megawatts from the national power grid.

"Hwange Power Station is thus not generating power at the moment from a possible four units due to coal shortages. As a result there will be an increase in load shedding countrywide, outside the publicised schedule," he said.

Mr Gwasira said Zesa Holdings and Hwange Colliery company were working towards restoring the units by increasing coal deliveries to the required levels.

The development comes at a time when Zimbabwe is experiencing a surge in power demand due to cold weather. Efforts to get a comment from Hwange Colliery were fruitless, as the company's spokesperson Mr Burzil Dube was not picking his phone despite having asked the paper to contact him.