Cost of electricity load shedding to Mines in Zimbabwe: Direct Assessment Approach
Journal Title: International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences (IJPSS) - Year 2012, Vol 2, Issue 6
Abstract
Zimbabwe’s mining sector has been hit hard by electricity load shedding from the power utility. Load shedding was seen as a solution to the inability of power utility to supply electricity to meet demand. Electricity supply problems has so many cause and some of which are; inability to expand generation capacity, aging equipment, droughts, cost coal supply to thermal plants, vandalism and political disturbances. Mines flooded as a result poor pumping of water outside the tunnels and mine shafts, and also lost productive hours of production. The researchers applied the direct assessment approach to estimate the cost of load shedding. A survey method was adopted for the mines as they are scattered. A questionnaire was opted as a research instrument and was administered face to face to mine captains. The results revealed that low capacity mines incurred higher load shedding cost compared to high capacity mines. It is also seen that high valued mineral mines (gold, diamond and platinum mines) incurred high outage cost as compared to low valued mineral mines (vermiculite, graphite and phosphate). From the study it can be concluded that electricity load shedding resulted in high cost to mining sector in Zimbabwe. It is recommended that the power utility should increase power supply to minimise the load shedding and cost of load shedding.
Authors and Affiliations
Nyasha Kaseke, Stephen Hosking
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP41654
- DOI -
- Views 315
- Downloads 0
Innovative Management of Microgeneration Technology in UK Residences
In this research, an investigation of various microgeneration technologies is presented. Microgeneration in newly build homes accounts for almost half of UK CO2 emissions and energy demand savings and has been growing...
STUDIES ON THE PREVALENCE OF HOOKWORM INFECTION AMONGST RURAL FARMERS IN EMOHUA L.G.A, RIVERS STATE
The prevalence of hookworm infection amongst rural farmers in Emohua local government Area, Rivers state was carried out. A total of 200 stool samples were randomly collected from farmers and gardeners aged 15-70 years...
The Social Impact of the Internet on our Society
The Internet drives the hottest stocks on Wall Street, shapes technological innovation, and fills the pages of the world's presses. What does this mean for society, government, commerce, and other institutions? How wil...
LEADERSHIP: A New Synthesis
The issue of leadership in human society and its various terrains has attracted series of scholastic and intellectual attentions. These attentions have deep-seated historical pedigree. The concept has become a key conc...
MATHEMATICS EDUCATION AND USE OF MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE IN ENHANCING UNDERSTANDING OF MATHEMATICS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
There are many factors attributed to the poor performance of mathematics at high school level, for example, students‟ attitude to mathematics, low cognitive abilities, poor teacher- student relationships, poor study en...