Rutendo Nyeve, [email protected]
ZIMBABWE’S mining sector is projected to increase its electricity demand by 50 percent to more than 1 500 megawatts (MW) within the next 12 months, putting fresh pressure on the country’s strained power supply as the industry expands beneficiation and processing.
The projected surge, from about 1 000MW, threatens to widen the gap between electricity supply and industrial demand unless Government accelerates investment in generation and transmission infrastructure and strengthens arrangements for independent power producers.
Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Caleb Makwiranzou said the mining industry was expanding faster than the country’s capacity to supply reliable electricity, making coordinated planning between the mining and energy ministries increasingly urgent.
“Mining is Zimbabwe’s single largest electricity consumer. Demand is set to outpace current supply,” he said.
Deputy Minister Makwiranzou said on-grid mining demand had risen to about 1 000MW, from the previously reported 600MW to 700MW, reflecting the sector’s expanding production and processing requirements.
Mining accounts for an estimated 16 to 20 percent of national electricity consumption and close to 45 percent of combined industrial and mining demand.
Additional consumption from diesel generators and captive solar installations is not fully reflected in national electricity supply data.
The pressure is expected to intensify as the industry moves beyond extracting raw minerals towards processing them locally, a shift that requires substantially more energy.
Lithium concentrators, chrome and ferrochrome smelters, platinum group metal (PGM) refining plants, gold milling and processing facilities, as well as expanded coal production, are among the developments driving demand.
“Intensive energy users, more than 100 mining and manufacturing firms forecast combined demand of about 4 000MW by 2030. Sector demand is projected to pass 1 550MW within 12 months, from 1 000MW in 2026 and 750MW in 2023/24, before reaching 4 000MW by 2030,” said Deputy Minister Makwiranzou.
He said more than 600 new investment licences had been issued, with mining accounting for a significant share of the anticipated expansion in productive capacity.However, the growth outlook is being complicated by persistent electricity shortages, ageing generation and transmission infrastructure, fluctuations in water availability at Kariba Dam and the high cost of securing alternative power supplies.
Zimbabwe has a national electricity deficit estimated at about 600MW, while dependable generation capacity ranges between 1 200MW and 1 600MW against peak demand of approximately 2 200MW.
The country spent US$881,7 million on imported electricity between January 2021 and March 2026, highlighting the financial pressure associated with meeting domestic demand through regional power purchases.
For mining companies, unreliable electricity translates into higher operating costs and lost production. About 10 percent of potential mining output is reportedly lost annually because of power interruptions, with companies relying on diesel generators or absorbing losses when production stops.
Electricity accounts for roughly a fifth of on-site production costs for many miners, making the reliability and affordability of supply critical to the sector’s competitiveness.
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development is seeking closer cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Power Development to secure reliable electricity for continuously operating mines and smelters.
The proposals include ring-fenced power supplies for critical mining operations, joint electricity-demand forecasting, a clear framework for independent power producers and electricity wheeling, support for captive generation, fair tariff and fuel allocation and coordinated investment in the national grid and transmission infrastructure.
“We need a joint mechanism to keep planning aligned into 2027 and beyond,” said Deputy Minister Makwiranzou.
Under the proposed roadmap, the two ministries would establish a technical working group in the fourth quarter of 2026, complete a sector-wide energy-demand baseline in the first quarter of 2027 and agree on priority supply arrangements and independent power producer terms in the second quarter of 2027.
Demand would subsequently be monitored quarterly to ensure electricity planning keeps pace with new projects and changing production requirements.
Deputy Minister Makwiranzou said reliable, sector-specific data was essential to ensure that investment in electricity infrastructure reflected the economy’s actual needs.
“Without joint, sector-specific data, national planning risks under-building for actual mining demand,” he said.
