Bulilima, Mangwe selected for new wind farm sites in US$3,5m energy project

TWO sites in Bulilima and Mangwe districts have been earmarked for the establishment of wind farms under a US$3,5 million African Development Bank Energy Sector Reform Support Project (ESRSP) being spearheaded by the Government.

Wind assessment and feasibility studies are already underway, with Manyewu Village in Bulilima identified as one of the selected locations.

Other areas identified under the project include Mount Darwin and Guruve, which both have two sites each, as well as Vungu in the Midlands Province, which has one site. Identification of additional sites is currently being finalised.

The ESRSP aims to increase the share of renewable energy in Zimbabwe’s power mix and strengthen private sector participation in developing energy projects.

Director of Power Development in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, who is also the ESRSP Project Manager, Engineer Peace Rugube, said teams were already on the ground installing equipment for the assessments.

“ESRSP has six components, which are Development of a National Integrated Energy Resource Plan, the Co-ordination of Protection Schemes on the Southern Africa Power Pool Interconnectors with Zesa grid, Development of Regulatory Accounting Framework, Review of tariff Methodology for non-discrimination access; Energy Efficiency Program Design for public buildings and the Wind Resource Assessment and Feasibility Studies at eight sites.”

Engineer Rugube said all five other sub-components had been completed, and the project was now focused on wind resource assessment.

He said work was ongoing to install eight wind masts across the eight selected sites, noting that construction stages varied from civil works to mast erection and the fitting of measuring instruments.

“Construction is to be completed by the end of March, after which we will commence wind measurements for at least 12 months at a hub height of 100 metres. Once measurements are completed, we will do bankable feasibility studies, Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Studies and Grid Integration Studies. These studies, once completed, will inform us of the wind capacity which we can develop at these sites,” he said.

Engineer Rugube said the sites would be reserved for a competitive bidding process once the assessments are concluded.

He also noted that Government was working with the World Bank to establish a competitive bidding framework for renewable energy, beginning with solar projects.

“The studies on wind resource assessment are being done by Nouberg Power in partnership with ATI, and mast installation was subcontracted to Wind Hunter South Africa. We are using a wind atlas developed by IRENA in 2014/2015, which was a desk satellite study carried out to map the wind potential in the country.

“Out of that atlas, we then pick out sites with the most promising potential, that is, those with commercial wind speeds above six metres per second. We also screen the sites on the basis of their proximity to the grid network, road access, terrain or geography and the land has to be unencumbered Government land,” he said.

Engineer Rugube said they had engaged Rural District Councils and the Ministry of Lands to secure land allocations, while also consulting communities and traditional leaders for consent. The work further required clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe.

He said communities in the selected areas would benefit significantly from the project.

“We are already working with communities in the construction of the met masts, where they also hire locals for work that is not too technical. The same will happen when we start development of wind farms; developers will contract locals in the construction phase and they will also provide employment to local communities in the operation and maintenance phase.

“Current civil works are also using local materials from local service providers for aggregates and other services. The same will happen during the development of wind farms,” he said.

Bulilima Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer Mr Billiat Mlauzi said the district was hopeful the project would bring broad benefits to local communities.

“It will be a major development for the district to be a producer of renewable energy. Our people will be employed at various stages of the works. One percent of the project cost shall be channelled towards social uplifting, which means communities around the project area will be able to use their allocation for development projects,” he said.

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