adminSWER is a technology that allows one wire to carry electricity loads instead of the conventional three.
In an interview on the sidelines of the just-ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo, REA acting chief executive officer Engineer Josephat Muzilikazi said the SWER pilot project would be commissioned in Mudzi District in Mashonaland East province.
“This is a new technology. It is not the normal conventional electricity distribution. It differs from the conventional system in that it only runs the live wire and uses the earth as the return path.
“In July, we will be commissioning our pilot project on SWER in Mudzi District,” he said.
The pilot project is being undertaken on an area stretching for about 32,9 kilometres from Suswe, an area that branches off the Harare-Nyamapanda highway to Chiunye villages.
He said SWER was a convenient and cost effective alternative grid electrification technology for remote areas.
The electrification process uses fewer poles, less conductor and less line accessories compared to the conventional system.
The latest technology is suitable for rural sparsely located settlements with light electrical loads at villages, schools, farms, business centres, clinics, and Government extension offices.
As a result, such applications reduce costs of rural electrification and improve reliability of power supply.
Eng Muzilikazi said before SWER is set up a soil analysis on texture has to be undertaken to determine the soil suitability to the technology.
He said soils in most parts of rural Zimbabwe had texture suitable for the implementation of SWER.
He said the project to implement the single wire technology was being supported by the Power Institute for Eastern and Southern Africa comprising 12 countries that include South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique.
Last year, engineers from the power institute visited Zimbabwe for feasibility studies that involved soil resistivity tests in the identified areas.
The visit by the engineers saw the local engineers being trained before the implementation of the project.
Online Reporter