The Sunday Mail
Ishemunyoro Chingwere
OLD Mutual Zimbabwe and Oxygen Private Limited will bankroll a US$1 million rooftop solar project that is tailored to wean the former’s tenants, particularly SMEs, from the national electricity grid. The two companies recently received a grant from the African Development Bank for the project.
Unreliable electricity supplies have forced some businesses to resort to expensive alternative sources of power. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority has been augmenting limited local power supply through imports from Eskom of South Africa and Hydro Cahora Bassa of Mozambique.
AfDB said in a recent statement that the Old Mutual-Oxygen project could help SMEs reduce operating costs. “The African Development Bank managed Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa has approved a US$965 000 grant to Oxygen Energy Private Limited to support the preparation of a bankable business case for the development of a 20MW off-grid solar PV (photovaltic) rooftop project on buildings owned and managed by Old Mutual Property Group. “… (the) project aims at compensating for the significant base load lapses of the national grid and at providing reliable electricity to hundreds of small and medium enterprises that are already tenants at the Old Mutual premises. In doing so, the Project will substitute large quantities of diesel oil used as backup fuel,” said AfDB.
Zimbabwe has a renewable energy master plan, and officially opening the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe in 2013, President Mugabe underscored the need to use solar energy.
Government, through Zim-Asset, plans to electrify all public institutions by 2018. “Exploitation of the abundant solar energy will also be stepped up following the receipt of over 500 mobile units from the People’s Republic of China. “The coming on board of these projects will certainly bring about sustainable improvement in the overall power supply situation and enable the country to mitigate adverse effects arising from regional supply shortages,” said the President then.
The Rural Electrification Agency, a statutory body, has electrified tnousands of public institutions across Zimbabwe using solar energy. “Of the 8 839 public institutions that we have electrified since REA was formed in 2002, 488 of these are on mini-grid solar system, with a further 500 under mobile solar system, and this is mainly for satellite schools and police posts,” said REA public relations and marketing executive Mr Johannes Nyamayedenga in an interview last week.
