Zimbabwean independent power producer PER Lusulu Power has signed an agreement with CSCEC to build the first phase of a 2000 MW coal-fired power plant.

Zimbabwean independent power producer PER Lusulu Power has signed an agreement with China State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd. (CSCEC) to build the first phase of a 2000 MW coal-fired power plant.

CSCEC will design and build the 600 MW power plant in north-western Zimbabwe, as well as build power lines to transmit the electricity. It expects to complete the project in 2019.

Chinese financial institutions have agreed to fund the $1.1 billion power plant, construction of which will start in early 2016. Zimbabwean finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said that the power plant would go a long way in addressing the infrastructure gap in power generation in the country, according to local reports.