Judith Phiri, [email protected]
ELECTRICITY contractors have proposed a new electricity unit distribution concept, the Zesa Unit Distribution Company (ZUDC), to facilitate the purchase, transfer and redemption of electricity credits through a digital platform.
This was revealed during the 2026 Pre-Strategy Review Meeting Workshop – Stakeholder Consultation and Feedback hosted by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority in Bulawayo on
Thursday, with experts stating that this can potentially open new opportunities for independent power producers (IPPs) and improve the management of net-metering arrangements in Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the event, the Scales Associates Corporate Finance Director (a leading Electricity
Engineering Consultancy, including HV) and MyAngu gold fintech chief executive officer and founder, Mr David Farley, said the proposed system would introduce electricity credits denominated in Zesa Units (ZUs) that would seamlessly and perfectly shadow the existing Zesa token system.
“Users would purchase Zesa units, which ZUDC would have sourced from both independent power producers and ZETDC and then be able to transfer these units between accounts and redeem them through smart or prepaid electricity meters,” he said.
“The concept also seeks to simplify net-metering arrangements by allowing electricity credits generated by participating producers to be deposited directly into their digital accounts for subsequent consumption.”
He said the concept is designed to simplify electricity transactions by introducing a digital application through which consumers and businesses can manage electricity credit balances, purchase units, transfer electricity credits to other users and monitor their transaction histories.
Mr Farley said under the proposed model, one ZU would be equivalent to one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of off-peak (i.e. night time) electricity, with the presentation using an illustrative value of US$0.08 per unit.
“This would create a standardised unit of measurement for electricity credits within the proposed platform, allowing users to monitor their consumption and manage their available electricity balances.
“The application would also provide facilities for depositing cash, purchasing electricity units and redeeming credits directly to smart or prepaid meters,” he added.
“Another key feature of the proposed system is the ability to transfer electricity units between users like sending mobile phone airtime. This could introduce greater flexibility in electricity credit management, particularly for households, businesses and industrial consumers seeking convenient ways to manage their energy requirements.”
Mr Farley said the proposed platform also seeks to improve the administration of net-metering arrangements, under which electricity producers generate power primarily for their own consumption while supplying surplus electricity to the national grid.
He used Scales Associates’ client Nottingham Citrus as an illustrative example of an independent power producer that generates 6MW of electricity for its own operations while maintaining a connection to the national electricity grid.
“Nottingham Citrus is a ‘Net Metering’ IPP, mainly producing for itself but dovetailing with the grid. Let us say that they provide 380 000 ZUs per month to the grid (earning more in the morning at peak tariff). Under net-metering, Nottingham Citrus cannot sell the credits they earn, therefore,
these units would simply go straight into their main ZU account,” he said.
“. . . and as they used them, the account would drop (whereas with retail the user would need to redeem manually to get the code for the meter). Beyond net-metering, a hypothetical ‘Full Time’ IPP, whose purpose is to produce power for the grid (for example, 10 megawatts (MW)), would use ZUDC to sell the Zesa units that it earns.”
He said that although they might earn 3 700 000 ZUs monthly, these would not go to their user account, but instead they would be sold on the app and they would receive a monthly income.
Mr Farley said ZUs would be purchased by the app’s clients and that producers could check their statements from previous months, detailing what they would have produced and sold, in both kWh and cash terms.
He said: “Who is buying the ZUs of Full Time IPPs? The app is planned to initially focus on large-scale buyers (like United Refineries) but retail could be added in easily, indeed, it could be used by existing token micro-sellers. Purchasers on the platform, like United Refineries, would pay VAT when the ZUs are purchased. Therefore, this balance is post-VAT.”
Mr Farley said clients would buy Zesa units, for example at US$0,08 each plus VAT, redeem Zesa Units (smart meter credited automatically) and account history, while a send function is also possible.
He called on Zera to endorse ‘ZUDC’ to operate a Zesa credits ledger for both net-metering use and for sale, and redeemable on existing meters, clarify the rights of part-time producers to sell their surplus credits and support ZUDC’s small pilot and ZETDC vendor agreement.
“All stakeholders will benefit from a more dynamic and efficient environment, with surplus credits that can be used, sold and tracked, resulting in an enhanced grid and thus less need for batteries.
For ZERA and ZETDC, they maintain control of an enhanced system, with a transparent and auditable record.”
