malvernmugadzikwa
Oliver Kazunga
Boustead Beef Zimbabwe, which is rehabilitating the Cold Storage Company (CSC), alleges that the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority has denied granting them a licence to construct and operate a 23,5 MW solar plant in Bulawayo.
CSC, which is the country’s biggest meat processor and marketer, was being revamped after the Government in 2019 signed a US$400 million Joint Venture Farming Concession Agreement with Boustead Beef Zimbabwe, a United Kingdom-based investor.
Following the joint venture agreement, the company has changed name to CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe.
In a recent interview, CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Nick Havercroft, alleged that they have been denied a solar power plant generation licence because his organisation lacks expertise in power generation.
It is hoped that the planned solar power plant will counter power cuts from Zesa, Zimbabwe’s power utility.
Havercroft also claimed that the Zera chief executive officer, Edington Mazambani ,has requested that CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe submits invoices for all the equipment that has been bought to bring back the beef processor and marketer to business.
“He ( Mazambani) wants all the invoices for all the equipment that we bought. Why send him an invoice for my CSC equipment. Why is that a requirement to give me a generator’s licence?
“He wants to see my invoices for all this equipment here. Why does he want to see the invoice for this equipment, it has nothing to do with ZERA, what l am spending here, it’s confidential,” said Havercroft.
In 2019, the investor announced that they would commit US$9 million towards the construction of a solar power plant at the CSC-Boustead Beef Zimbabwe headquarters in Bulawayo’s Belmont Industrial site.
“We know how to raise money and we have got partners (name supplied) who are ready to give us the equipment (for the planned solar project), they said we’ll give it to you, give us 20 percent of the business, and we can do deals like that,” he said.
Havercroft further alleged that another IPP, Par Value which is also in Belmont Industrial site had been issued a power generation licence for a 50MW project prior to fulfilling some of the requirements for the solar project.
“Next door there is a guy (Par Value) who has got a licence for a 50MW but he hasn’t got an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report, he hasn’t got proof of finance…he hasn’t got designs, but he has got the licence.
Contacted for comment, Mazambani refused to comment on the matter saying Havercroft “knows what he is expected to do” to secure the solar power generation licence.
“Before you even go further on that matter, I don’t want to comment in the media. He knows what he is expected to do,” said the ZERA boss.
To set up a solar power plant, ZERA requires that Independent Power Producers (IPPs) produce proof of funding for the intended project, a critical grid impact assessment report done by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), and an EIA report carried out by the Environmental Management Agency.
Bongani Ndlovu