Lubu power station

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Lubu power station is a cancelled power station in Hwange, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Lubu power station	Hwange, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe	-17.833333, 31.05 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.

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Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Retired year
Unit 1	cancelled	coal - unknown	300	unknown	–	–
Unit 2	cancelled	coal - unknown	300	unknown	–	–

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner
Unit 1	Sable Mining [100.0%]
Unit 2	Sable Mining [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

• Coal source(s): Lubu coal mine

Background

In September 2015, Sable Mining signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese developer Citic Construction to develop a 600 MW coal-fired power plant. The plant would have been built at Sable's 20,000 hectare Lubu coal project, located in the Karro Mid Zambezi coal basin of the Hwange (Wankie) mining district in north-western Zimbabwe. The mine would supply coal to the power station.

In a media statement, Sable Mining stated that "under the terms of the MoU, Sable and CITIC will explore the opportunities of using their respective expertise to work together to develop a commercial coal-fired power station at Lubu. It is the intention that coal mined at Lubu ... will supply the power station. The MoU is supported by the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, which is the administration in charge of power development, in line with its mandate to promote the development of energy and power generation in Zimbabwe."

In the media release announcing an MOU, Sable Mining's CEO Andrew Groves stated that "The combination of our quality coal together with CITIC's access to power plant infrastructure, financing and construction expertise has the potential to create a long term power supply which, due to Lubu's strategic location in north-west Zimbabwe, could supply both domestic and regional demand once connected to the established power grid."

In September 2015, New Zimbabwe reported Sable Mining (later renamed Consolidated Growth Holdings) and CITIC Group were still interested in building the 600 MW power plant.

However, since 2015, Consolidated Growth Holdings only discusses plans for a coal mine at Lubu. Now run by Contango Holdings Plc, the mine started production in late March 2022. With no further progress on the coal plant, it appears that the power project has been shelved or abandoned.

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.