The Sunday Mail
By Tracy Panashe – Sunday Mail Reporter
THE Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has stepped up efforts to electrify rural communities with over 7 000 institutions and homes across the country already connected.
REA public relations and marketing executive, Mr Johannes Nyamayedenga, said the agency was speeding rural electrification in line with the Government’s economic blue print – the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset).
“As at June 25 2014, national statistics on rural institutions state that 2 042 primary schools, 1 157 secondary schools, 762 rural health centres, 319 government offices, 215 chief households, 901 business centres, 686 small scale farms, 1074 villages and 679 institutions like churches and community halls have been electrified,” he said.
He added that there were 395 institutions connected to solar systems.
Mr Nyamayedenga also noted that REA was in the process of connecting 78 more institutions on the national electricity grid before year-end.
“We have a backlog of 5 327 primary schools, 2 188 secondary school, 1 338 rural health centres and 266 chief households.
“REA encourages rural communities to pay and connect electricity for an improved standard of living. We build electricity lines covering the whole country and then hand over to ZETDC for billing and maintenance,” said Nyamayedenga.
Early this year, REA indicated that it was going to roll out a new technology, Single Wire Earth Return – the latest electricity technology which uses one wire instead of the traditional three.
A pilot project has been implemented in Mudzi while other projects are being undertaken in other provinces.
REA says full implementation of the new technology will serve at least 60 percent of what it used to incur on a conventional system which uses the three lines.
Mr Nyamayedenga said most people in rural areas were working together in building internal structural framework houses for electricity lines.
“REA is pleased with the progress it has made, and the response in rural communities is overwhelming since they have started their projects this year,” he said.
“We have something for everyone and we have embarked on a solar programme under which 395 institutions have been completed; that is schools and clinics,” he said
He said solar technology was cost effective for remote areas which are far away from existing electricity grid network.
