Powerspeed to set up pilot solar plant

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed Powerspeed Electrical says it will by the end of the first quarter next year set up a pilot solar energy production plant in Zimbabwe in partnership with a Swiss clean energy firm, Meeco Group.

In an interview, MD Hilton Macklin said the two companies had agreed in principle and were still discussing the capital intensity of the project.

“We have not progressed much, but we have agreed to establish solar energy production in Zimbabwe in many small-scale plants not one large- scale unit,” he said.

He said by the first quarter of next year, they would be putting up a pilot generation plant that will set the tone for the project.

“We have agreed to co-operate, we will provide expertise and supplies of equipment locally while the Swiss firm will be providing technology and financial assistance,” he said.

The partnership with Powerspeed, a distributor of electrical and hardware supplies, will be done through Meeco Group’s Zimbabwe-based subsidiary OurSun Energy.

Established in 2000, the Meeco Group says its core competence is offering high-end engineering management and investment solutions including clean energy, communications, sponsorship and aviation.

Powerspeed will exclusively distribute Meeco’s all-in-one energy management system the Sun2safe which enables better harvesting of renewable energy, just in time and online insights into generation and use of energy, leading to better management of produced energy and savings.

First developed as a monitoring tool for Meeco’s Sun2live energy production and storage solution as well as the Sun2com solar telecommunication solution, the Sun2safe is a fully integrated energy conversion, energy storage and management system, which can be used with any source of energy (renewable as well as carbon based) production.

The second tier involves the setting up grid-connected solar power plants that will produce five megawatts each and the target is to produce a combined 50MW. In terms of company performance, Mr Macklin said business has been difficult but the company believes it has responded to the environment to the outmost and overall it has not been a bad year.

He said this year; the company opened two new branches and was planning more next year.

“The exact number is still under consideration but it will depend on how we fund such projects.” — Wires.