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With Zimbabwe currently facing power shortages that have seen people going for long hours without electricity, the Second Republic has stepped up efforts to end the power challenges.
The situation is caused by frequent breakdowns at Hwange Thermal Station.
However, the recent synchronisation of Hwange 7 with the national grid is expected to ease the nation’s power burden in the near future.
In fact, Hwange Unit 7 and 8 are expected to add 600MW to the grid, which will see power cuts declining in the next few months.
Government’s cocktail of measures also includes increasing local power generation capacity through partnerships with the private sector.
As a country, we no longer have to rely so heavily on Kariba Dam power station, hence the diversification into renewable sources of energy that are friendly to the environment.
These include hydro power, solar and wind energy, among other sources.
Now considering that there is no easy and quick solution to power problems, we need to start working now to ensure that our province and the country at large become power sufficient in the not so distant future.
It is encouraging to note that as a country, we have already embarked on that journey.
Government has already licensed several Independent Power Producers in Manicaland and beyond so that they generate power for their respective communities and feed the excess into the national grid.
Another short-term solution worth pursuing vigorously are the small solar power systems that can be rolled out while Government works on improving national power generation through additional hydro power plants, solar and wind farms.
Zimbabwe’s net metering system, launched in 2020, allows people who produce private renewable energy to transfer their excess generation to the national grid.
Zimbabwe can also draw lessons from Nepal.
In 2014, Nepal was experiencing up to 12 hours of power cuts for the residential and industrial sector.
This went on for three years until the Asian country invested heavily in run-of-the-river micro-hydro power plants.
These are hydroelectric systems that harvest the energy from flowing water to generate electricity in the absence of a large dam and reservoir — as opposed to conventional hydroelectric power plants which rely on the power of water falling a large distance.
It all paid off and by 2018, the country could produce 1000 MW, up from 782 MW in 2016 and its power challenges became history.
Now, looking in Manicaland, we have the advantage of a mountainous terrain and water channels that never dry up all year round, just like Nepal.
The countless waterfalls in Manicaland have huge small-hydro potential.
Under the right circumstances, micro hydro power can make a sustainable and valuable contribution to a region’s electrical power requirements.
The beauty of hydropower reservoirs is that they often have multiple uses — providing drinking water, water for irrigation, flood and drought control, navigation services, as well as energy supply.
For instance, the Osborne Dam Mini-Hydro project whose site is approximately 35km from Mutare, will generate 2.5 MW of power.
In addition to this, the dam will still support the irrigation scheme around it, as well as the recreational activities there.
As a nation, we also need to adopt energy-saving behaviour – like turning off lights in unused rooms, use of solar water geysers, and use of energy efficient home appliances.
Imagine the millions of lights deliberately switched off in our work spaces for hours to ensure that we can have power when we wake up.
It is those small efforts that can bring a change.
Online Reporter