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Leonard Ncube in Hwange, leonard. [email protected]
THE power utility, Zesa intends to embark on a multi-million dollar solar project next year to service areas not connected to the national grid.
If successful, this will be a milestone achievement for the Second Republic which has, in a short space of time, delivered several mega projects including the Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 expansion project commissioned by President Mnangagwa yesterday.
Addressing a cross-section of delegates that included Government officials, members of the Diplomatic Corps and thousands of people that attended the commissioning ceremony, Zesa executive chairman Dr Sydney Gata said the envisaged project will be rolled out in January next year.
He said Zesa had already acquired three million solar panels for the project whose aim is to complement efforts being made by the private sector.
Government has licensed more than 100 independent power producers.
“Our Vision for 2030 is total electrification of Zimbabwe and as Zesa, we are promising that come January next year, we will be connecting electricity everywhere including where there is no Zesa network as we will put solar,” he said.
Briefing journalists later, Dr Gata said the first batch of equipment worth more than US$500 000 will be delivered to the country before the end of the year.
“Most of the solar energy we have is that which has been initiated by the private sector. There are over 100 companies that have been licensed to develop solar projects of various sizes and we feel that we should have a duty ourselves and Government to support those initiatives.”
Dr Gata said the project will be implemented in phases.
“The first batch of equipment worth half-a-million United States dollars is expected in the country before the end of the year. All in all the project will run into millions of dollars,” he said.
Dr Gata said the US$1,5 billion Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 project is a fulfilment of a dream that dates back to the 1980s when stage 1 of the power station was built.
He said for various reasons including the anti-black empowerment approach that was used by whites, the country had for a long time remained using aged power plants as Stage 1 was built using old technology.
He commended President Mnangagwa for engaging his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping in 2018, which gave birth to the giant thermal power station project, among several other mega projects countrywide.
“But this time we got a project directly from the President when he went to China immediately after taking over the Presidency. Sometimes we face electricity challenges, especially in mining and agriculture and get help from Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, and other countries,” said Dr Gata.
To rubber-stamp the importance of the project which has the capacity to feed the regional grid, executives from HCB Mozambique, NamPower and Botswana Power Company among others attended the commissioning ceremony.
Online Reporter