Moffat Mungazi
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
HILLCREST Schools in Mutare are now not only energy self-sufficient but will also feed a considerable amount into the national grid after commissioning a 200kw solar power plant on Tuesday.
The solar plant is comprised of one site each at the school, boarding house and prep school, jointly providing 200kw of electricity daily.
Speaking during the commissioning of the solar plant on Tuesday, Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Advocate Misheck Mugadza called on other private players to come on board in pursuit of the province’s energy self-sufficiency thrust.
“This is the thrust that the country’s political leadership is taking about. The issue of renewable and clean energy is of paramount importance. You will notice that as Manicaland, we consume 128 megawatts, and on our own we are producing 40 megawatts.
“But the coming in of new players such as Hillcrest, who are now producing 200kw, we can see ourselves as Manicaland increasing what we can produce for our own consumption.
“We are encouraging stakeholders to venture into such projects, from investors, private players and so on, to come to Manicaland and augment efforts towards energy self-sufficiency,” said Minister Mugadza.
Hillcrest Schools board member, Mr Shiran Ahmed – himself a former learner at the school and whose company, Mega Market assisted in the designing and engineering works of the solar plant – thanked Government and other stakeholders for creating an enabling environment to implement such projects.
“Our team has been responsible for the design, engineering and installation of the solar system.
“Myself, being a Crestonian, it is part of very proud moment for a school that supported me and set me up for life. For us, it is part of giving back to the community.
“We really want to thank all the stakeholders from the Ministers’ Office to other key stakeholders such as ZESA. We are indeed grateful,” said Mr Ahmed.
Hillcrest Schools principal, Mrs Sarah Shoesmith said: “It gives me great pleasure to announce that we have launched a brilliant solar project because want to trap the sunlight and use it for our school. It is sustainable, and the great thing about it all is that we are, not only producing power for our school and learners here, but can feed surplus energy into the national grid.
“Therefore, the entire Penhalonga Valley will stand to benefit from the electricity that is being produced here. We are grateful to all stakeholders, Government, ZESA and engineers from One-stop-solar as well as GDI Solution.
“If you see the technology itself, it is amazing to see that these are Zimbabweans making their life better for themselves. It gives us hope for a brighter future for our future generations,” she said.
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