Story by Tichaona Kurewa
KAMATIVI Mining Company is investing over US$20 million in the construction of a 36-megawatt solar power plant at its lithium mining operations in Hwange.
The project will see the company becoming energy self-sufficient while supporting Zimbabwe’s transition to clean energy and national development agenda.
The solar plant, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year, is being developed in line with the government’s call for mining companies to generate their own electricity and reduce pressure on the national grid.
“We hope that it can be finished by the end of September this year. That will produce almost 36 megawatts of green energy for the project. That not only benefits the project but also benefits the community,” GM-KMC, Mr Jack Ye said.
He said the company is investing around US$25 million in the renewable energy project.
“The first response to the call of the central government on the mining sector should be to produce their own energy. The second is because lithium is a critical mineral for the transition of the energy of the world. We are trying to use green energy for our mining and also the operation,” Mr Ye said.
The Special Advisor to the President responsible for Monitoring Implementation of Government Programmes and Projects, Dr Joram Gumbo, welcomed the investment, saying the project demonstrates how mining companies can contribute to both national development and community empowerment.
“If this company’s model could be emulated by other companies, then definitely the mining sector would be contributing to the communities where they operate,” he said.
President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa has, on various platforms, rallied the country towards the establishment of a critical infrastructure backbone that supports the national development agenda.
“The over-arching objectives of the National Development Strategy Two include sustaining a stable and predictable macro-economic environment that promotes investment, innovation, productivity and resilience, transforming the economy from a primary commodity-based to a diversified, broad-based, modern upper middle-income country through accelerating value addition and beneficiation. Developing a strong, modern and resilient infrastructure backbone across all sectors of the economy that supports productivity and sustainable socio-economic development,” he said.
As Zimbabwe steadily positions itself as a key global player in lithium mining and value addition, investments of this nature are expected to strengthen the country’s competitiveness while advancing its transition to cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy.
