PER Group Ventures (Private) Limited (PER) trading as PER Lusulu Power (company number 26269/2007), was formed with a specific vision to contribute to the much needed base-load energy shortage currently experienced in Zimbabwe and regional SADC countries within the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). The company holds an Independent Power Producers license (GC00019) to generate 2,100MW of electricity in several phases: 1A of 350MW; 1B of 350MW; phase 2 of 700MW; and phase 3 of 700MW.

An EPC contract (engineering, procurement and construction contract) has been signed with China State Construction Engineering Corporation www.cscec.com. CSCEC are ranked 27th in Fortune 500 in 2016.

A Chinese lender has provided loan facility of 85% of the project capital cost.
Sinosure Buyers Credit Facility is being provided in support of the Chinese lender facility.

A nominal IRR of 18-20% on equity is targeted from estimated net cash flows.
SAPP/SADC regional power shortage is estimated to be over 8,247MW (Southern African Power Pool Annual Report, 2015, page 5). PER Lusulu Power will provide all Zimbabwe’s power needs and will make a significant contribution to the SADC/SAPP deficit.

Binga district coal deposits (known as the Lubimbi-Lubu-Lusulu Basin) contain over 10 billion tonnes of coal capable of supporting several large scale, long-life power plants for many decades. This is one of the largest unexploited high quality thermal and coking coal resources in Southern Africa. PER Lusulu Power project has been strategically located in the Binga district in order to maximise long life of the project.

The project uses environmentally-friendly clean coal ultra-supercritical technology.

The power station is water-cooled drawing water directly from Lake Kariba under licence from Zambezi River Water Authority (ZRWA) and Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa). The project water usage is very small in relation to Lake Kariba capacity and the Zambezi River flow and is therefore not subject to the potential drought effects of hydro-based projects, such as occurred in the Central African low rainfall seasons of 1992, 2002 and 2014-2015-2016.

A new 400KV transmission line of 305 km will be constructed simultaneously with the power plant connecting to the North-South inter-country transmission corridor at Alaska Substation which is located near Chinhoyi, 100km north-west of Harare as required by ZETDC’s grid impact studies.

Phase 1A (350MW) of the project is targeting construction starting in H2 of 2020 and commissioning in H2 of 2023. Commercial generation will start Q1 of 2024.

The total development cost of the phase 1A project is estimated to be US$1billion.

Economically and socially the PER Lusulu Power Plant and Transmission Project will have a positive transformational impact on the Zimbabwe economy and more specifically on the Binga district in the north west of Zimbabwe. This will happen by opening up the whole region to investment, tourism, employment, enhanced road links, and exports of power.

PER Lusulu Power board and management has established links with local authorities, enjoys strong relationships with all levels of Government, and is complemented by a group of internationally recognised world class consultants in the power, mining, legal, technical, social and environmental fields.
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The project is closely aligned to the Zimbabwe Government’s ZIMASSET objective of promoting key sectors that will accelerate industrialisation and expand access to electricity across the country. The power plant will help Zimbabwe re-establish its manufacturing base, maximise the potential of its commercial farming, facilitate extraction/exploitation and beneficiation of its abundant natural resources, and provide constant power supply to cities and homes by ensuring security of supply of quality electricity. The project will result in creating direct and indirect job creation.

Development of export products as Phase 1B (350MW) will focus on exports of electricity into the SADC region. The project will also enable the production of an export coking coal product. Associated capital expenditure will also be initiated for other latent benefaction industries such as fertilizers and coke products.