Online Reporter
Zimpapers Writer
Zimbabwe is intensifying efforts to attract solar investors at a time when demand for electricity is rising across industries, households and mining operations, deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development Yeukai Simbanegavi told Senators on Thursday.
Deputy Minister Simbanegavi said Government has introduced a series of measures aimed at reducing the cost of investing in renewable energy.
“We allow investors to import equipment duty-free,” she said, adding that the move was designed “to minimise the capital required for such investments.”
She said Zimbabwe now permits foreign investors to repatriate an agreed percentage of their profits in foreign currency, depending on the scale of investment.
The Deputy Minister underscored the role of private power generation in stabilising the grid.
“We are encouraging companies to generate their own power and sell excess energy to the national grid,” she said. “Varun Beverages, for example, can now generate its own energy and sell the excess to ZESA.”
She said tariffs are being adjusted to ensure they are cost-effective.
“If a person generates and sells electricity, the amount should be adequate to cover the capital used o generate and distribute energy as well as to pay expenses,” she said.
“Investors must be able to make a profit.”
