Story by Owen Mandovha
ZIMBABWE is witnessing the rapid uptake of renewable energy projects nationwide, aided by the Government Project Support Agreement (GPSA), which is incentivising massive investment in power generation.
The government has made significant progress in diversifying the national energy mix by eliminating bottlenecks that impede investment in renewable energy, ultimately leading to the rapid uptake of renewable energy projects nationwide.
The commissioning of the 10-megawatt New Glovers Solar Plant in Kwekwe is a testament of progress, with stakeholders citing the GPSA as an impetus to promoting growth.
“The GPSA outlines several initiatives to promote investment, especially policy on the repatriation of dividends, which is key for investors to invest in the sector. The GPSA also sets out a tariff framework that is incentivising for investors,” Director of New Sahara Ventures, Mr Ainos Ngadya noted.
Zimbabwe is one of the few Southern African countries with a national energy compact, a significant milestone in aligning policy to incentivise investment.
“The Compact is a commitment to promote investment, and Zimbabwe joins other countries in the SADC region with such a compact which is a huge consideration to lure investment,” Lanforce Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Victor Tarirai said.
Power supply has significantly increased over the past years, helping to power mining, manufacturing, and agriculture, and President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa has underscored the importance of energy self-sufficiency in driving industrial growth when he commissioned the Glovers Solar Project in Munyati, Kwekwe.
Zimbabwe is getting nearly 100 megawatts of electricity from renewable sources that are feeding into the national grid and the net metering initiative, whereby households can feed excess electricity into the grid, is proving successful in plugging the energy deficit.
