The Sunday Mail
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority will install 300 000 more prepaid meters at a cost of US$150 million.
Prepaid meters
Zesa has over the past three years installed about 543 000 free prepaid metres to domestic and industrial customers in a project that has reduced electricity demand by 100MW at any given time.
Zimbabwe requires about 2 200MW during peak periods (6am-9am and 4pm-9pm) but is currently producing an about 1 200MW.
The second and final phase of prepaid meter installations is anticipated to see the power utility surpass its target of 800 000 such units by 2018 as outlined in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Sustainable Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) under the Infrastructure and Utilities Cluster.
Director of Planning in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development Engineer Benson Munyaradzi told The Sunday Mail that: “The installation of prepaid metres will force consumers to be cautious in their electricity use.”
Prepaid metres allow customers to monitor and adjust their electricity consumption to suit their own pockets.
