Addressing journalists and government officials during a tour of the project site, Zambezi River Authority  spokesperson Elizabeth Kanonga said the authority has already invited bids for the construction of the dam, which is a joint venture between the governments of Zimbabwe and Zambia. She said it will take at least seven years to complete.

Further, she said Zimbabwe has already completed the construction of a new road that links the site to the nearby tourist resort of Victoria Falls and is waiting for Zambia to complete its own preparations for the resumption of site works.  Kanonga said the project has been delayed for years by a diplomatic dispute between Zambia and Zimbabwe triggered by long overdue payments which Zimbabwe owed its neighbour from federal-era projects.

“The Zimbabwean and Zambian governments have agreed on the need to set aside their differences emanating from the dispute over payments on the Kariba Dam and we have had a commit - ment from both President Mugabe and President Michael Sata on the need to expedite the project. We expect the project to commence at the end of 2014 and the project would take at least seven years to complete,” Kanonga said.

The dam will be located on the upstream of Lake Kariba and will stretch for 54 kilometres. According to feasibility studies, each of the two countries will get 800 megawatts of electricty when the station starts generating power after 2021. Zimbabwe's power crisis has worsened progressively since the beginning of this year with the Zimbabwe Power Company reporting a 17.69 power deficit in its domestic and commercial consumption requirement.

The parastatal warned that without new investments in power generation projects, the crisis will worsen and hit all the sectors of industry harder with negative implications for the country's troubled process of economic recovery. The country has a generation capacity of 1 320 megawatts against a peak demand of 2 200 megawatts. The ongoing maintenance works at the Kariba and Hwange power stations, set for completion in February 2014, have reduced their combined generation capacity from 1450 megawatts to 880 megawatts.
 
Apart from Batoka Hydro Power Station, Zimbabwe has contracted China Machinery and Energy Corporation to expand two power generating units at the Hwange Thermal Power Station. It has also contracted Sino Hydro for the expansion of the Kariba South Hydro Power Station to give the country an additional 900megawatts. Both projects will be completed within the next four year