Hwange Thermal Power Station
By Dickson Bandera
In line with the ongoing reforms at the national electricity utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has started upgrading old pre-paid meters countrywide to meet the needs of the new system.
The exercise targets to upgrade meters installed from 1993, whose software is expiring by November 2024 and will be incompatible with the new systems.
The upgrade will be done by customers themselves at their homes using three tokens which they will get when they buy recharge tokens. Two tokens will sort out the upgrade while one to be loaded last will effect the recharge.
ZETDC launched the pre-paid meters upgrade exercise in Harare last week where ZETDC acting managing director Mr Abel Gurupira explained how the new system will operate.
“We are coming to a time when the 30 years that were incorporated in this system is expiring and we are saying once we get to the 30 years, the meters will then not be able to identify the token that has been generated by our system and therefore will reject it,” he said.
Mr Gurupira said the new prepaid meters involve a system at the ZETDC and a meter at the client’s premises, which in essence should be able to communicate.
“We are coming to a time where we have to reset, giving the meter a new lease of life where the algorithms that are within the organisation’s system and those that are within the meter should be able to speak to each other.”
He added that going forward, tokens will be generated by this new system hence only those with upgraded meters will be able to transact.
“The new system is responsible for generating tokens. When one makes a purchase or buys power they are given a token which they then key into the meter and that meter should be able to identify and decrypt that unique token. If we give out a token a meter should be able then to read the token and recharge the meter,” he said.
The new system will generate two key additional codes which need to be punched into the meter in addition to the one used for recharge.
The system that ZETDC is phasing out was developed in 1993 with South Africa and many other utilities involved.
Mr Gurupira said the new system will reject requests from old meters hence those who do not upgrade will not be able to buy electricity.
“If we do not do this (upgrading), then the meter post the 30 years will not be able to recognise the token and people will not be able to vend,” said the ZETDC Acting managing director.
ZETDC, however, indicated that meters which came post-2014 are not involved in the upgrade as they are already compatible with the new system.
