Story by John Nhandara
MORE than 20 megawatts of power are being generated through the net metering programme as the country witnesses an increase in the uptake of the initiative.
The country has witnessed a significant increase in the net metering programme after the threshold was revised from 100 kilowatts to five megawatts.
Under the initiative households and businesses generating solar energy at their premises can feed excess power into the national grid through a grid-tied inverter.
Giving an update on the programme, ZESA General Manager, Stakeholders Relations Dr George Manyaya noted an increase in the uptake of the programme with 20 megawatts being generated under the initiative.
“As part of the roadmap to electricity self-sufficiency and in a bid to salvage the power supply situation, this is a call to residential, industrial farming and commercial customers who have installed solar PV panels or other renewable energy to feed excess into the grid.
“We have of late seen an increase in the number of people coming on board. This is a response to the revision of the net metering threshold from 100kilowats to 5 megawatts as regulated in the electricity (Net metering) regulations SI 86 of 2018 and SI 38 of 2022 which presents opportunities for small-scale renewable energy generation to feed excess energy into the grid. So far 21,3 megawatts have been registered to date reducing the demand from the national grid during the day,” he said.
The net metering programme will see power utility ZESA being less dependent on importing energy by encouraging households and business owners to invest in solar energy and other renewable energy sources.
